


What It Is To Be A Skeleton

by FruitSnack2



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Drowning, Fluff, Hurt, I am not sorry, I don't actually know, Mentions of Murder, Original Character(s), PTSD, Really Bad Puns, Trauma, adding extra relatonship tags because I realise that's probably where this is going now?, at least she has koda there, bailey and papyrus are gonna be really good friends, bailey isn't having a good time, body horror?, constant/persistant puking, depiction of drowing, gore? i have no idea how to tag these things, help this poor child, i have no idea anymore, imma label that just in case, injuries, it's quite severe in her dreams, movies help, puns, sans is finally in the picture now, she has the same reoccurring nightmare, she really suffers afterwards, she tries not to let it get to her in reality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28069812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FruitSnack2/pseuds/FruitSnack2
Summary: Because I'm really bad at naming things for the life of me... my first sorta fanfic ok pls be gentleThe written version, mostly just bits and pieces of an AU I have in mind, featuring a woman named Bailey and her dog Koda. I want to put this somewhere other then google docs pFFT. Most of the stuff I'll write will just be certain parts that I feel like writing at the time, and maybe even a dif POV from other characters, so expect random sequences/jumps in time.Long story short, Bailey gets turned into a skeleton because wHAA NAtURal phEnOmoN, and is now stuck with the new body. She of course meets the UT gang, and deals with some stuff like trauma and side effects, (mostly just a really bad sickness) from the phenomenon people are calling 'The Transition'. She also gets to learn how to use monsters magic whooo.Monsters were not trapped underground in this particular AU, and Mount Ebott is a split mountain, with a few changes here and there. Frisk, Chara and Asriel all exist in this au as well, pretty much grown up, although Frisk is still a bit of a teen.
Relationships: Papyrus/Undyne (Undertale), Sans x OC, Undyne x Papyrus, sans x bailey
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, just gonna jump into the actual transformation Bailey went through...
> 
> Some forewarning, there is blood, puking, depictions of drowning and a somewhat gory description of her change. Don't read if you can't handle slight gruesome stuff I guess
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because I'm really bad at naming things for the life of me... my first sorta fanfic ok pls be gentle
> 
> The written version, mostly just bits and pieces of an AU I have in mind, featuring a woman named Bailey and her dog Koda. I want to put this somewhere other then google docs pFFT. Most of the stuff I'll write will just be certain parts that I feel like writing at the time, and maybe even a dif POV from other characters, so expect random sequences/jumps in time.
> 
> Long story short, Bailey gets turned into a skeleton because wHAA NAtURal phEnOmoN, and is now stuck with the new body. She of course meets the UT gang, and deals with some stuff like trauma and side effects, (mostly just a really bad sickness) from the phenomenon people are calling 'The Transition'. She also gets to learn how to use monsters magic whooo.
> 
> Monsters were not trapped underground in this particular AU, and Mount Ebott is a split mountain, with a few changes here and there. Frisk, Chara and Asriel all exist in this au as well, pretty much grown up, although Frisk is still a bit of a teen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just gonna jump into the actual transformation Bailey went through...
> 
> Some forewarning, there is blood, puking, depictions of drowning and a somewhat gory description of her change. Don't read if you can't handle slight gruesome stuff I guess
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy!

It burned.

Everything burned.

She couldn’t tell if she was on fire, or if her skin was simply just melting off, but it _hurt_.

Oh how everything hurt.

There was nothing that could describe how she was feeling right now. Every inch of her body was engulfed in searing pain, with a burning heat that also stung as cold as ice. And that ringing. The obnoxious ringing in her head was beyond unbearable. It blocked out everything. She couldn’t hear anything above it. It was high pitched, and vibrated in her head. It drained out anything that tried to make it into her ears, including her own screams. It was giving her a major migraine no doubt. Well, a migraine that was a bajillion times worse than the normal migraine, that is.

She shrieked as she sat on her knees helplessly on the ground. _What was happening??_ There had been no time to register the light-headedness and numb, dizzy feeling she experienced before collapsing in utter pain, screaming as she clutched her head. And it only increased from there. She tried to reach out while her vision was still somewhat clear, reaching out a desperate hand for help to the nearby friends she had been hanging out with. Alex had backed away the instant she fell, and the other two froze in pace. Bailey was only graced with stares of horror that eventually sent them running away, screaming for themselves. They left her there.

She couldn’t help but feel betrayed.

Her head had erupted by that point. Unable to see what was happening as tears streamed down her cheeks, she could do nothing but sit there hunched over, feeling like her body was pulling itself apart. She clutched onto herself in a weak and desperate attempt to keep herself together. She failed to notice a slight glow coming from her. The pain and heat had raised to a point she couldn’t feel tears anymore, and her body was shaking viciously as though she was experiencing the worst seizure possible. She may as well have had an aneurysm at the same time. Or maybe she was, and just couldn’t tell. 

At some point, it felt like her eyes had literally left their sockets, and the muscle under her skin had been exposed to an open flame. Geez, this was the worst feeling. Bailey couldn’t tell what was happening anymore, and the feeling of passing out was becoming overwhelming, but she seemed unable to do so at the same time. Her voice was cracked, and she couldn’t stop screaming. She couldn’t stop the shaking. She was utterly helpless.

In her little frenzy of an attack and her body literally failing her, Bailey didn't notice the small pool of blood that was beginning to seep around her. There wasn’t a lot, just enough to stain the ground around her, and run loosely, but damply over her body as if a wet towel hadn’t gotten all the water off. It felt gross.

There was another burst of pain, the point of it this time coming directly from her chest, and she let out a blood curdling scream. Her eyes were shut tight before, but now they felt crushed by gravity itself. Her forehead had been touching the ground, body bent over her legs before her head was thrown upwards, forced up but some unknown pull. There was a blinding light, a light that even she could see through her closed eyes. It was too bright.

The feeling washed over her for a few seconds, the intensity putting her almost into a high. She was in a bliss of emotions and pain. For a brief second Bailey thought she was floating, yet her shins never left the ground. This couldn’t be normal, right? 

No, it definitely wasn’t. 

The feeling lingered, before disappearing as quickly as it had come. The light dissipated with it, some kind of signal that this episode of sorts had finished.

_What the actual hell was that?_

Her senses were completely drowned out for what felt like an eternity. The pain and icy-cold burning lingering but now slowly fading. Her vision slowly recovered. Bailey now laid on her side, having unknowingly collapsed completely onto the ground after the episode. She felt weak. Feeling helpless, and glued to the ground. Bailey could hardly move. Everything still hurt like a knife gutting her side. She didn’t want to move. But she didn’t want to stay.

She needed to find Koda. She wanted her family.

A sickening feeling soon overcame her, and she couldn’t stop herself from throwing up uncontrollably.

Slowly, she raised her head, her body screaming at her in defiance. But she forced herself to look up. Sounds were starting to come back, although heavily muffled. She had to let her eyes adjust for a few minutes, her vision being too blurry to make out details. She could see people. People were running about. Monsters were running about. Some were being carried, some were being yelled at, or even chased. 

Wait. Why were they being chased?

That didn’t seem right.

Something white passed her peripheral vision, and she whipped her head around. It caused her yell in pain as her body once again resented the movement. Panic swelled up inside, only to drop in relief. 

It was Koda.

The little papillon had edged his way over cautiously, seemingly confused as he whined. He normally didn’t hesitate to come to her, he was her dog after all. Against her throat's will, she called out to him, “Koda…” Her voice was cracked and croaky, being barely above a whisper. It hurt.

Koda perked up however, recognising her voice and coming over to her. He still seemed frightened however. She gave him a few tentative pats, before forcing herself up onto her elbows. She failed to stay up a few times. When she finally held, she began pushing herself back into the position she was before, her body feeling raw against the ground. It hurt like hell. It was then she heard a yell in her direction, and she looked around to see one of her friends from before, Alex, standing in shock horror at the sight before him. He came back apparently. She wrapped her arms around herself in an weak attempt to comfort herself, and called out to the monster, “help…” 

He didn’t move. She tried again, trying not to break into a sob. “Alex... Help me!"

The monster started to back away, a mixture of fear and confusion on his face, unsure of what to do. She snapped.

“ _HELP!_ Please _someone_ help me!”

To her dismay, it only scared him, his eyes wide before turning and running. She cried out in pain. _Why was this all happening? Of all things, why this?_ Panic welled stronger inside her, and she reached her hands out towards him desperately as he ran. “No! Please! I-” 

Bailey froze. The hands before her were not her own. Or at least, they shouldn't be. She wanted to scream again, but she couldn’t snap out of her trance as she stared at boney fingers. Bailey couldn’t do much other than continuously flip her hands back and forth, seemingly ignoring the faint traces of skin and blood staining them. The sight filled her with fear and confusion. No wonder her friends didn’t help. Slowly, as much as she wanted to refuse, her heads trailed up to her face. It was somewhat colder than before, with more traces of the red liquid. It was definitely harder, yet somehow soft, and smoother with the slightest traces texture. It _almost_ had bounce, but nothing like it should’ve had with skin when she pressed against it. 

Her gut dropped on the realisation. There was no skin.

Only now did she notice the bloodied spot beneath her. Experimentally, she traced her hand towards an eye, prodding the edges carefully. Her heart sank. There were no eyes in her sockets. Every inch of her was telling her to stop, but she couldn’t as her new boney fingers trailed inside, and gripped the edge of the socket. _This couldn’t be happening._ She could feel fresh tears that shouldn’t be possible now forming on the edge of her sockets, spilling over when the fear increased. Koda was still by her side, whining as he couldn’t figure out what to do. Her hands flew to him, sweeping him off the ground and holding him close in a tight hug. She cried into him, his beautiful white fur staining red with the remainder of blood she still had on her. 

Someone nearby shrieked. 

Both Bailey and Koda jumped, and much to her screaming, aching body’s dismay, she sprung to her feet. Frantically looking around, but not paying attention to what or where she looked, a wave of adrenaline washed over her, and the fight or flight instinct suddenly kicked in. Her only thought was to run, but her body stayed put, preparing to fend off whatever was coming her way. Just as she turned however, something slammed into her side. A scream erupted from her from the pain, and then from falling. The person who’d startled her before had pushed her over the river edge. The familiar feeling swept over her, her heart leaping out of her chest as her gut dropped. There was nothing she could grab onto, and a twisted feeling settled in as she realised she’d let go of Koda when she was pushed, the little papillon yelping as he flailed from her arms.

A sudden mixture of rage and fear boiled inside her. Without thinking she twisted around as she toppled over the edge into the river, and swung a skeletal hand towards him. There was a dull, luminescent light surrounding her hand, though she didn’t notice, and she saw the man in the last second as three objects suddenly whirled towards him. Her eyes widened at her mistake, but there was no stopping her as her hand swung out towards him. Even as she fell, she caught a glimpse of the three bones flying at him hit their mark. Where they hit him, she wasn’t actually sure, not with her focus being all over the place. But by how he yelled and fell to the ground for the split second she saw him as she disappeared over the edge, she knew it was bad, before her back collided against the cold, wet surface of water seconds later. 

The cold water engulfed her in an instant, and she quickly sank to the bottom, the water around her turning slightly pink as the blood finally washed off. She felt her head smack against a hard surface, most likely a rock, and barked a yell from the impact. Though letting herself sink was rather deliberate, the coolness of the water somewhat alleviated that lingering burning feeling her body still registered. It almost felt soothing. Allowing herself to sink also bought her time to remove herself from another interaction with someone should they have jumped in or come after her. Movement above her caught her attention however, but quickly relaxed as she recognised Koda, despite that the waters surface was a little riled up. They weren’t very strong currents, but they were enough to drag someone down if they didn't know how to swim. The river was also surprisingly deep, with a decent width to the other side of the riverbank.

With great effort, her body protesting for the manieth time, she pushed herself up from the bottom of the riverbed and swam. It only lasted a few seconds. Her hand barely broke the surface before she started sinking again. She frowned in confusion, fear returning once more. She tried again. This time she didn’t break the surface, her body exhausted. Panic spread onto her boney face. 

She was gonna drown. 

Koda was nowhere to be seen of course, and could feel herself drifting down the riverbed due to the current. She tried to grab the rocks around her, but her grip quickly slipped. She flailed about, kicking and swinging her arms about to try to get to the surface. She’d never struggled swimming so much in her entire life, she was usually nothing _but_ a good swimmer. Why was this so hard all of a sudden? Fear was starting to get the best of Bailey, her calm, collective movements turning into clumsy, frantic flailing. 

She had been under for at least five minutes before the familiar sense of needing air started to swallow her, although any sense of time was now lost. Her chest tightened as the intensity of her fear and panic spiked. She couldn’t swim now. She was most definitely going to drown at this rate. She made the mistake of screaming underwater, dramatically losing the already short amount of time that she had under the water. Even when the riverbed had raised enough for a hand to break the surface after a jump, there was nothing to pull herself up on. Attempt after attempt, all she did was sink. Her movements were sloppy now, tired and weak after everything so far. 

A blackness started to cloud her vision. She could feel herself slipping. 

Bailey’s body started to give way, and allowed herself to go limp for a moment. What was she to do? She wasn’t getting anywhere with this. Her head was throbbing in pain, she couldn’t really think. Any sort of rational thought was long gone already, but now it was an effort to even think at all. She looked up briefly to the surface, her eyes desperately looking for any kind of movement, but her sight was out of focus, blurry and struggling.

She closed her eyes. 

It was hard to hear anything beyond her head's fuzziness. She didn’t notice something that broke through the water's surface in front of her, unable to register any kind of sound regardless. 

Something clonked her in the chest. 

Her eyes snapped open.

She struggled for a moment before suddenly grabbing the object, yanking herself forward and to the side of the current. Any air that was left in her lungs was now gone from the desperate swimming from before, but now filled with panicked adrenaline. She broke the surface. Cold, bitter air greeted her, and immediately gasped. It wasn’t very successful at first, the thing that hit her chest before had hitched her breathing, but after a few quick coughs, she finally managed to inhale a massive, deep breath. 

Her upper body fell with a thud, and she let out a ragged breath. She could breathe again. Her breathes were quick and shallow now, but soon began to level out. Her body was still limp, but she allowed the tension to loosen, deepening each breath she took. Her vision was still blurry, but she could make out a small, white figure charging towards her, and she briefly guessed it was her dog. Thank goodness he was okay.

Bailey tried to collect herself. She tried to force herself back to reality, and focus on what was going on around her, but her exhaustion got the better of her. 

She slipped into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ehhh I'm not used to writing 
> 
> I hope it wasn't too bad  
> *crawls back under rock*


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> she's a skele now. whoop.
> 
> Time to go to Ebott.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> continuation of the last chapter, cos yes
> 
> also here's a reference to what bailey looked like beforehand  
> [ Bailey ](https://fruitsnackart.tumblr.com/image/637555428839096320)

When she woke, there was nothing but darkness.

Or, from what she could see anyway. Her head spun, and she was struggling to register what was happening. She could hear distant sounds coming from some direction, and became aware of something soft leaning against her head. Tentatively, Bailey reached her hand up to her head, trying to focus on what was next to her, and quickly recognised it as Koda. She felt a bit relieved.

Murmuring to herself, she tried to prop herself up onto her elbows. Bad move. The sickening feeling returned in her stomach, and she threw up uncontrollably. Body shaking, and breathing ragged, she felt helpless as she heaved. It wasn’t until she stopped that she noticed the colour of the vomit. Koda let out a whine as he watched.

It was blue. A deep blue. That glowed ever so slightly.

... Why the hell was it blue?

Bailey’s eyes widened suddenly, the colour of her vomit being the least of her concerns as the recent events now replayed in her head intrusively. The pain, the screaming, a pool of blood.... Boney hands. She looked down, and felt her heart sink. With her hands splayed in front of her, sure enough, they were still boney. As well as her arms. Tentatively, she raised one hand to touch her cheek. Yep, that was still boney too. 

That seemed to be the next tipping point, because she threw up again.

That felt like it was gonna be an issue.

Once she was sure her heaving session was finished, she tried to move once again. Half of her was still in the water, the rippling waves of the rivers current pulling on her clothes as it went downstream. She struggled to get back up, but forced herself to at least get out of the river. Gingerly, she checked her pockets, and panicked a little to find her phone wasn’t there. She prayed it hadn’t fallen into the river. 

Looking at Koda briefly, who was still wet from his own dip in the river, Bailey then pushed herself up onto her feet. She staggered on the first attempt, falling back down onto her butt with a yelp. This was taking a huge toll on her physically. She briefly looked around the river, and found that she hadn’t actually gone that far, considering how long it felt she was under the water for, and how fast it felt. She noticed that the sounds she heard before were coming from town. Sirens and yelling from the people in town. 

She frowned. 

Her friends. She recalled her friends, the horrified look on their faces before they fled. Before they left her there screaming, suffering an unbearable pain. The feeling of despair and betrayal. And the man. She remembered that a man had pushed her.

The man she’d unintentionally attacked. 

She’d nearly killed him.

This was probably not going to end well for her.

Bailey hadn’t noticed that she’d started shaking again, despite how loud it was becoming, and her breathing had quickened. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she began making her way further down the river, where she knew a crossing point was. Aside from the sudden, traumatic experience she’d just endured, Bailey could only think about one thing now. 

She needed to leave.

She’d somehow managed to conjure up a magic attack, the monsters term for their powers. Each monster's abilities were unique to their own, but considering she was a human just a little bit ago, she didn’t think that it would be possible to have such a thing, or at least not this soon. Yet she’d attacked someone with it. Not on purpose, but still did it.

So long as she had this knowledge, she considered herself a danger, especially if she didn’t know how to control it, let alone use it to begin with. Bailey had no idea how she’d managed it, having no pre-existing knowledge on how, and definitely no physical experience to practise this with.

She needed to leave, and she needed to leave now. 

She needed someone who could help her.

Sweeping up Koda into her arms and, much to her body's protests, made a bee-line for home.

  
  


\-------------

  
  


“There she is!”

She’d barely left the house for five minutes, and already had been spotted. At the yell, she immediately broke into a run. There was no way she could let herself get caught, nor make the previous mistake she made when she encountered the man earlier by the river edge. She wasn’t going to let someone else be unintentionally hurt by her. Not again.

Apparently, despite the traumatic experience, it was enough to have half the town come after her. Couldn’t she have had a break after this? She already felt bad enough that she’d nearly killed the guy, by complete accident and panic, she didn’t need the rest of his pals to berate and punish her further for it. The damage had already been done, yes, but it was no excuse to rub it in further, especially since it was an accident, and with what he did with the circumstances she was facing at the time. 

It was still raw, but they weren’t going to consider that.

Some people really are just ignorant apparently. And stupid for the most part.

She’d noticed that the residents around here had already fled, some simply back into the safety of their families homes, but others had just outright left the town. Some were even chased out from what she could see, either of fear or by the families who were frightened by them. It was quite sad really, especially with the police trying to help them in this crisis. Bailey felt forced to leave for different, and quite frankly fair reasons. There was no point trying to reason with people who were scared, and with the ones armed with guns for the matter. She’d never have been seen as a threat before, not by anyone, but the bone attack incident had changed their minds very quickly. Even with the police around to try disarm them, at least one of them was bound to ignore them and be stupid enough to fire anyway.

It wasn’t her fault. She kept having to remind herself that.

The track back to her place was easy enough, people were still running around in shock of what happened. She passed by the spot where she was initially pushed, noticing a dark patch but in too much of a hurry to make out what it was, the man she encountered being nowhere in sight. She searched the area before feeling relieved, her phone hadn’t gone into the river, and retrieved her beanie as well. Paramedics had appeared in the streets as well as police, trying to address the issue that had suddenly arisen. It seemed that a lot of people were affected. Some had broken out into a fit, scared and upset over the whole thing, which stirred up some trouble for the police to deal with, much to their dismay. It was really chaotic to say the least. 

Along the way, she had passed through a block that had a small store bearing long windows along one side of it. She saw herself properly for the first time since the change. It came to her that she’d been trying to avoid that, given how she hesitated when coming close enough to see her reflection. She stared for a few, short moments in disbelief. She was a skeleton. A proper, full on skeleton. She’d hoped that her eyes just weren't working, or that it wasn’t a complete change, but this was all the proof she needed. In all honesty though, she just wished this was nothing but a bad dream. She barely had time to take in the sight before nearby yelling snapped her back into reality, immediately breaking into a run. Her figurative gut dropped, and tears pricked her sockets again. Bailey deliberately avoided gazing at anything she could see herself in from that point onward.

The door of her apartment was unlocked thankfully, and she bursted inside. She was confused when she noticed no one there, but she guessed her roommates had gone out looking for her. She had to remind herself that she couldn’t stay here now, as tempting as it was to just collapse on the couch.

Without another word, mostly in panic and a much disliked opinion of not wanting to deal with angered residents, she went to her room and started packing her duffle bag. She needed to leave. For as long as she knew she was here, the residents were not going to treat her kindly like before, and see her as a danger. With access to her own powers, she didn’t trust herself not to use it again accidentally. She saw herself as a risk as long as she was here. Bailey scrambled around for a pen and paper, scribbling something down for when her roommates returned, and ran down the stairs, Koda hot on her heels with a leash now attached.

Now, to her dismay, she had been spotted, and a group of five chased her. She was exhausted to say the least, and really wasn’t looking forward to this last second decision. She didn’t know what she was doing, but she had an idea on where to head to. 

Mt Ebott.

If there was one place she could get help, it was there. A place filled with monsters, and bound to have places to stay. Or least she hoped.

She managed to give the group the slip after dipping in between two houses, and looped around one so that she was behind them, before bolting off once more. It was a bit more difficult then she’d imagined, but she managed it to the best of her abilities. The further she got down town, the closer she was to leaving it, and the darker it got as well, which helped her for the most part. Bailey didn’t want to leave, not by a long shot, but she felt like it was the safest option. At some point, her body shuddered, and she heaved up again. She glared at the muck on the ground for the third time now. That was starting to annoy her. The extra weight of luggage slung over her shoulder wasn’t helping with her recovery either.

Eventually she ended up jogging back along the field she’d been in earlier that day, and noticed another dark spot near her initial bloodied patch. Now that she allowed herself a moment to study it, she noticed it was blood, probably from the man she’d struck earlier, and that it hadn't been cleared. There was also a slight, now dull blue splotch that matched her previous vomit, the only remnants of her presence here. It no longer glowed like before. There was yellow tape there, so she assumed that police were now onto the case. That wasn’t very good in her opinion. Especially if they came looking for her afterwards. She wasn’t going to be able to come back until the whole ordeal was sorted.

Koda growled and groaned in her arms, clearly unhappy that he was forced to be carried. “I know, I’m sorry.” Bailey simply said, “I don’t wanna risk losing you while we’re still trying to leave.”

Like he was going to understand her, but she always felt better talking to him. He was smart, but sometimes he wasn’t the brightest dog. He honestly had no sense of gravity at points.

It suddenly came to her that she was going to need a ride to Mt Ebott. She was terrified at the idea of hitch-hiking, especially as it now turned night. A bus was her best option, so long as it was pet friendly, which she figured wouldn't be too hard considering some monsters were furry. For the meantime though, her goal was to just get out of the town's general area. She’d worry about a bus once she hit the next location, which Bailey knew was going to be a while. 

As soon as she hit the road that led out of town, she kept close to the edges, but still within the tree line, and stayed out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha what even are plots


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's arrived at Ebott, and moves on to meet Undyne, Alphys and of course, Papyrus!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgive me if this is terrible
> 
> how does one do things? iDK

Koda let out a growl as someone pushed past them. The two of them had been on the road for a few days before they reached Mt Ebott, and so far spent a couple nights beneath the split mountain.

“Hey!” She said. Her panicked state didn’t help, her duffle bag slipping from her shoulder a bit.

“Sorry,” The taller, red monster said, before waddling off to wherever he was headed. 

It hadn’t been that bad of an experience considering her circumstances. Ignoring her fearful, panicked state that is. The two had ended up sleeping on the side of the road for the first couple nights when they first left the town, which wasn’t all that comfortable, but she managed to find spaces where the two could rest and keep themselves warm enough, lighting a small fire with the supplies that she had. 

The next couple days after walking a fair bit, and more horrible sessions of throwing up aggressively, she got offered a ride from a lovely old couple, thank goodness, to get to the next town, which Bailey had gratefully accepted. They didn’t talk very much for a while, but eventually they made good conversation. She forced herself to keep her growing anxiety in check. She learned from them that this ‘world wide event’ had been called The Transition. It had very quickly breached the news, of course, so there was no surprise there. It was a fitting name for the most part, but it was beyond anyone's understanding as to why it had happened. Apparently, people were on the case to figure out why this phenomenon had taken place, but Bailey had her doubts they’d find it out anytime soon. Or at all as far as she was concerned. She didn’t watch the news herself, but the older couple did, which she found herself grateful for at the time. 

A couple more days of travel, she soon arrived at Ebott, the late evening sun glaring over the valley by the time she’d walked up to the top where the bus couldn’t reach. The sight made her stare in awe, allowing her to temporarily relax from the constant fear and anxiety that currently haunted her. It was gorgeous. No wonder people loved coming here. Even Koda seemed taken back at the sight.

When she went inside the mountain, New Home being the first place to walk into, she’d been greeted with a bustling, warm energy of people wandering in and out of nearby stores and houses. She’d stared at it gaping, despite the growing anxiety. The purple and grey bricks were illuminated in the golden light filtering in from the split entrance, with little golden flowers littering the floor and even up some of the walls. It was a sight to behold. The general air around seemed so friendly, and the monsters around here… She couldn't help be amazed at how many she saw. 

Bailey had never seen so many monsters in one place at once, and this was only one part of New Home. 

It didn’t take her long to get lost in the crowd however, anxiety climbing as she’d searched around for a place to stay the night, but unfortunately had no luck. Even if she didn’t have her dog with her, the places just didn’t seem available. As if her timing just couldn’t have gotten better. Of course everything had been booked out this one time. So she settled with the only other option and spent the next couple nights in an alleyway. Not that she’d minded of course. For the most part, it hadn’t actually been too bad. She had money so that she could pay for food, and she managed to find a mostly quiet spot off along the side-lines, away from the centre of New Home. More of the golden flowers were sprawled out along the area as well, providing a slightly more comfy space for her to rest in the shadows, and used the duffle bag as a pillow. Bailey really didn't mind, so long as she could keep her anxiety in check, and get some personal space to relax. Having Koda helped a lot.

Well, her back and legs didn’t agree with her, but she couldn’t have cared less given how much rest she’d needed. Not that she slept all that much. The recent events had started catching up to her, and she ended up crying at some point. And throwing up again for that matter. The pain of an old injury she had on her right shoulder blade also began to surface again.

Whenever she woke, the fear and anxiety she had before would immediately kick in. Today it just seemed to be worse.

Now she walked aimlessly, stopping by each building to briefly take in it’s magnificent appearance. Soon she found herself wandering around the markets section, glancing in the stalls at all the little trinkets, bits and pieces, or food items they sold. She had to admit, there was probably always something interesting to look at around here. That being said, she was having a hard time appreciating the sights as her anxiety grew, a slow panic starting to rise inside for reasons she didn’t know. She rounded it up to the recent events getting through to her, and possibly getting lost again. The memory of the recent experience replayed in her skull in an obnoxious loop, the event still raw in her mind. 

The monster that bumped into her just now only temporarily brought her back into reality, allowing her to be aware of her current surroundings for a moment. The crowds weren’t as big today, but she wasn’t counting on it to stay that way as the evening drew near. She also forgot her shaking for while, the slow growing panic now starting to become more noticeable rather than kept to herself.

Thoughts started clouding her mind, she had no idea what she was doing. She was scared, alone, had no plan whatsoever, and was without a clear sense of mind on how to get herself out of this predicament. Bailey started second guessing her now seeming irrational decision. She clearly hadn’t thought this through. There was no way she could go back yet though, not now that she’d left, and not until the whole ‘magic attack’ issue had been sorted at least. She didn’t realise while trapped in her thoughts, that she’d started fast walking until she bumped into someone, almost letting go of Koda’s leash and tripping backwards a bit. 

“Oof! Uh, sorry!” She quickly stood up straight, frantically addressing the monster who she walked into. She tried to hide her panic, but failed miserably. 

The monster before her was tall. Really tall. She stood at a massive eight feet at least, and somewhat resembled a fish. She was also blue in colour, her beautiful scales shining in the light of the market's lanterns. The woman also had big, sharp yellow teeth that poked out of her mouth, an eye patch over her left eye, and red hair that had been mostly tied back. She wore a simple black tank top, and a jacket over the top with lightly coloured jeans for contrast. A smaller monster also stood beside her, this one however was only a few inches higher than Bailey herself. She guessed around five foot 2, and she resembled a dinosaur in some way, except oddly yellow in colour. She also had teeth that poked out from the front of her snout, and had a pink shirt with a black and white polka-dotted skirt. Bailey couldn’t help but feel intimidated before the fish woman.

“Woah! Geez Sans, I thought you weren’t-” She stopped mid sentence, the remaining yellow eye widening a bit. “Oh… Wait, you’re not Sans.” She mumbled more to herself than anything, before furrowing her brows. “Geez punk, you alright?” 

She stepped forward, only for Bailey to step back. “Woah, hey… It’s alright, I’m not gonna hurt ya… You ok punk?”

She froze for a second, “Uh… Yeha… I’m fine.” Koda seemed just as tense, growling for a moment. If skeletons were even capable of paling, she certainly was now. Her fear and uncertainty was not unnoticed by either of them.

“Ya don’t look like it.” She raised a brow, whatever attempt Bailey would make now to seem ok would fly out the window. She suddenly felt like fleeing, but her legs wouldn’t budge. The fish woman was eyeing the small dog groaning by her legs. “You’re shaking an awful lot.” 

Her hand trailed out towards her shoulder, slower than before, but this time Bailey forced herself to stay still. She got the feeling that if she tried to run, the fish woman would easily catch up. The smaller monster came up to her now, pushing up a pair of glasses on her snout. 

“H-hey, it’s ok,” she said, stuttering a bit. “You need to t-take a d-deep breath…” Bailey hadn’t noticed her breathing quicken. She followed the lizard's instructions, eventually sitting on the floor with her as she calmed down. The fish woman knelt beside her as Koda inspected her, making incoherent noises here and there. His tail began waving at some point, much to the fish woman's relief and amusement. “What’s y-your name?”

She looked at the lizard, tears beginning to sting her sockets. She must’ve looked like a mess. Her voice cracked slightly, barely above a whisper. “Bailey. This is Koda.” She gestured to her papillon.

“Oh, n-nice to meet you. I’m Alphys… This is U-Undyne,” She gestured to the fish woman, who smiled gently at her. She was patting the dog now, who settled next to her like the cuddle bug he was. “A-are you lost? We can help you get t-to where you n-need to be if you want.” Concern was clear in her voice, as if the worried expression she held wasn’t enough.

“Um…” She looked away, unable to answer. She didn’t think this far. Pretty dumb if she said so herself.

“You… Are going somewhere, right? Where do you live?” Undyne asked.

She didn’t answer, not wanting to respond. Tears now started flowing freely.

“Woah, uh… Ah geez, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset ya. Um…” Undyne was at a loss for words, and Alphys' concerned look only grew. Both of them stared at her chest area, where her soul sat, for a moment.

“U-uh, Undyne, m-maybe we should-”

“ALPHYS! UNDYNE! I HAVE RETURNED WITH THE NECESSARY ITEMS-” A loud voice suddenly sprung up behind her, and all three monsters jumped from it. Bailey whipped her head around, backing up into Alphys slightly. She had no idea why but it somehow made her feel safer. Koda growled at the approaching figure, but he didn’t seem to notice.

It was another skeleton. He bore an orange jumper, and dark grey pants. The rim of a light grey shirt could be seen poking out from the top of the overall jumper, and he wore bright red boots, with a scarf to match.

“Oh, Papyrus! Uhm, y-you might wanna turn it down a bit-” Alphys began, before being interrupted by the now excited skeleton.

“WOWIE! ANOTHER SKELETON! WHAT’S YOUR NAME? AND WHY ARE YOU ALL SITTING ON THE FLOOR?” He made a move to come closer, much to Bailey's dismay. She also noticed how tall he was, his height almost reaching Undynes, only off by a few inches. Were most monsters tall by nature?

“Papyrus!” Undyne had fallen backwards with his loud greeting, but now scrambled up to put herself between the two of them, Koda following suit, and Papyrus suddenly became aware of the dog's presence. “This isn’t a good time, we’ve got a bit of a problem here,” she looked back at the two still on the floor, before turning back to him. “Are you ready to go?” 

“YES! INDEED I AM! BUT, WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE ISSUE?.... IS SHE OK?” He pointed to Bailey, his own concern and worry now on his features. 

“No, she’s not… We’re gonna take her back to our place.” No one had actually decided this, but it was clear Undyne had a certain authority to her, and she seemed very much like a leader. Bailey didn’t protest, not that she had the energy to do so. “We’re gonna have to cut the evening short I’m afraid.”

“THAT IS QUITE ALRIGHT! LET US START HEADING BACK THEN, YES?” He looked back towards the two on the floor, Bailey had started shaking again. “DO YOU WANT ME TO CARRY YOU?”

It took her a few moments to register the fact he’d addressed her. “Oh! U-um, no… I’ll be fine.” Papyrus looked unsure for a moment, then looked down at the dog sniffing him, kneeling down as he greeted him gently. Koda relaxed, letting the skeleton pat him. Satisfied the dog was now ok with him, Papyrus then turned on his heel to lead the way.

With that, the two got up, Undyne offering her a hand before taking the duffle bag she’d been lugging around with. She gladly accepted her help, stumbling a bit as she got up. For a moment, her figurative gut twisted, and she froze. There was no way she was allowing herself to throw up in front of these monsters. She forced herself to keep it down, walking slowly until it went away. She knew there was no way she was going to be able to hold it in next time it came back however. 

The group headed back up towards the entrance of Mt Ebott, the tall skeleton they called Papyrus leading the way. While Koda stuck close, at some point Bailey had decided to just carry him, as the lead was getting in the way of some people passing through. They hit a car park, and came up to what looked like a fancy convertible, striking red in colour. She prayed she wouldn’t get carsick. 

The drive itself was ok, and at some point she actually fell asleep, her exhaustion getting the best of her. Alphys had joined her in the backseat, most likely to keep an eye on her, while Undyne and Papyrus were in the front, the skeleton being the driver. She didn’t blame Alphys, she could tell that her current state had immediately gotten them worried upon their first glance at her. When she woke up, the sun had completely set. She didn’t pay any attention to where she was, and soon afterwards the car pulled up in front of a house. 

As she got up and out of the car, she couldn’t help but feel like this was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> give this child some chocolate or something


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we've gone ahead by like a week and a bit now. Some time with Papyrus is called for.
> 
> ....And puns.

The room was lit from the gentle sunlight filtering in through the kitchen window, nothing too bright nor too dark. It had a pleasant warmth to it, but unfortunately it wasn’t facing where the couch was. Rather, it splayed out on the carpet just in front of the TV, which was on the other side of the coffee table, as well as the edge of the table itself. The curtains in the living room had been drawn to keep some of the darkness as Bailey slept on the couch.

It wasn’t the comfiest, but it wasn’t too bad considering the circumstances.

Bailey stirred as she could hear noises coming from the kitchen area, soft muffled voices so as to not disturb her too much. Her dog was cuddled up against her, snoring quietly. Well, until he noticed she was awake. There was no stopping the barrage of kisses that followed his lunge towards her face. She batted Koda away softly, scowling at him but making sure to keep quiet.

It had been around a week since her arrival, and most days were spent sleeping, or resting when she couldn’t sleep.

She didn’t quite feel like waking up yet. Maybe she could sleep in a little more.

… No.

She was awake now.

Sighing to herself, she looked over her shoulder to see who occupied the kitchen. She could make out Undyne’s voice clearly, and only just caught Alphys’, but there was a third that she didn’t quite recognise through her drowsiness, but swore she’d heard before. Peering as much as she could see, she caught a glimpse of a tall skeleton next to the frame.

Papyrus.

On the realisation, she couldn’t help feel a sense of warmth at the sight. The skeleton didn’t know her very well, but upon their first, and so far only meeting, he’d been so very generous and kind towards her. He wanted to help so badly, and she felt bad that she’d still rejected his offers, but she knew she wouldn’t have been able to cope with his loud nature, not with how her state was before. Now she’d probably be more than fine being around him.

Koda jumped off the couch off towards the kitchen, so she forced herself to sit up. She stretched, feeling a few bones pop and crack as she yawned. Her shoulder blade began to hurt a little.

“Good morning.”

She glanced to her left, and saw Alphys hobbling over. She had a gentle smile, and was quiet so as not to startle her. She was very thoughtful considering Bailey still somewhat felt like a stranger. “Morning,” she said sleepily, returning the smile.

“H-how are you?”

“Um, I’m alright thanks… A little sore though.” She didn’t want to admit it, but she didn’t really mix with couches for some reason. She’d also had a nightmare sometime during the night, apparently those were a frequent thing now. She experienced a few throughout the week, which was messing up her sleep. The Transition took more of a toll on her then she’d thought, and her old injury in her shoulder blade was starting to act up again, causing immense pain. She wasn’t sure if a chiropractor was gonna be able to help now though.

“S-sorry. I k-know it’s not the c-comfiest,” her anxiety started to show through, “but, we s-should have the spare b-bed set up s-soon!”

“Oh, no no! It’s fine, really, I’m just not used to it is all.” Bailey tried to reassure her, which in turn let the yellow dino reptile before her relax a bit.

“I-I know, b-but still, there’s no use sleeping h-here if there’s a s-spare b-bed.”

“You don’t have to,” She said with a slightly melancholic tone, “besides, I’ve already invaded your space for a few nights.”

Alphys perked up at that, though with a shocked expression, “O-oh! Y-you’re not invading our space! Not at all!” She came up closer so that she knelt in front of her, taking both of Bailey’s hands into her own. Her hands were warm, and oddly prickly with tingling energy. Something that resembled an electric lamp, though a lot more subtle.

She then gave her a firm look, and spoke with a more stern, though not unfriendly tone. “Bailey… We’ve a-already established that you’re staying with us, and I’d rather you slept here then in an a-alley again. B-besides…” She glanced towards the kitchen entrance for a moment, where the other two were still talking, “you d-don’t have anywhere else to go… do you?” She knew the answer to that, but she wanted the confirmation.

Bailey went to reply, but no words came out. She felt pathetic for a second. Looking away, she nodded slowly. She didn’t really know anyone close enough except for one friend, but she was away at the moment for college reasons, and her parents were back in Australia. She was still yet to call them.

The lizard-like monster's look softened, “I didn’t think so.” Alphys then pulled her into a hug. “I-I’m sorry this has happened t-to you. You’re m-more than welcome to stay with us. F-for as long as y-you need to. At least until you find y-your bearings a-again. Heck, we’re a-actually enjoying your company.”

She returned the embrace. “Thank you Alphys.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. She couldn’t word how grateful she was to Alphys, especially with how kind she was towards her despite being a nearly complete stranger.

“Hey! Morning punk!” Undyne suddenly barged into the room, Papyrus following behind closely with a beaming smile that matched Undyne's toothy grin.

“Morning,” She said in return, flashing a smile before looking at the other skeleton. “Hello Papyrus.”

“GOOD MORNING MISS BAILEY! HOW ARE YOU FARING? IT’S BEEN A BIT SINCE WE LAST SPOKE.” It had barely been a week.

“I’m ok, thank you,” She looked at him sheepishly, flinching a little at his loud greeting. She brought a hand up behind her skull, scratching it a little. A disheartening feeling swept over her for a second when she couldn’t feel her hair. The reminder made her figurative heart sink a little. “Yourself?”

“I AM WELL THANK YOU! JUST STOPPED BY FROM MY MORNING RUN, AND THOUGHT I’D CHECK IN WITH YOU. YOU CERTAINLY SEEM BETTER THEN LAST TIME!” As loud and energetic as he was, almost too much for her liking, she couldn’t help but feel comforted by his presence as another skeleton. It didn’t make her feel as out-of-place.

“Well, I do feel a bit better,” She admitted.

“That’s good to hear,” Undyne said as she came to Alphys' side, “we were a bit worried about you when we first picked you up.”

“Yeah, I know… Sorry about that.” She looked away once again. Koda started burying himself in the pillows sprawled along the floor where Papyrus stood. It was quite amusing to watch, Papyrus and Alphys letting out a small snicker as they smiled at the playful little dog.

Undyne scoffed. “Bah! Don’t be punk, we’re just glad we were able to help. But uh… Sorry to cut your convo short, but Al and I need to get ready for work.” Bailey already knew what Undyne's jobs were, but learned over the week that Alphys was a scientist of sorts. It fascinated her, and it seemed fitting when she thought about it. She was even offered to come with her a few times.

“O-oh! Yes, of course.” She looked towards her right where a clock sat on the wall. “Oh gosh. I wasn’t p-paying attention. We should get going soon.” She stood to leave, before turning back to Bailey, “I-is there anything you need? Before I go?”

“Um… maybe just a brief reminder of the kitchen area?” She had spent most of her time resting on the couch, despite having been here for a few days. She’d never actually gotten stuff herself aside from milk in the fridge.

Alphys nodded, smiling as she led her to the kitchen, Papyrus following while Undyne went off down a hall towards the bedrooms. They also let Koda outside from the door in the kitchen that led to their backyard so he could do his business. After quick instructions of where things were, she then turned to leave herself, “L-let me know if you n-need anything else!”

“Thank you, I will.” Bailey watched as the yellow monster left, disappearing in the hall.

Now she was alone with Papyrus.

An awkward silence started to settle in. So she tried to break it. “They’re really nice…” She wanted to head desk.

“YES, INDEED THEY ARE.” Papyrus didn’t seem phased. Thank goodness. “ALPHYS IS A VERY GENTLE MONSTER, AND UNDYNE IS VERY KIND AND PROTECTIVE!... ALTHOUGH SHE CAN BE QUITE INTIMIDATING.”

She let out a nervous laugh, “yeah, I noticed... It’s kinda hard to miss.”

Papyrus let out his own, somehow gentle but loud laugh. “NYEHEHEH. YES, BUT WORRY NOT MISS BAILEY, SHE ISN’T ALWAYS AS INTIMIDATING AS SHE SEEMS.”

“Thank you Papyrus,” She smiled, then added, “But uh, please, just call me Bailey.”

“OH! OF COURSE, SORRY.” He chuckled, bringing his hand up behind his skull in slight embarrassment, but with an innocent smile.

“It’s ok.” Bailey couldn’t help her own smile as she went and filled up the kettle, turning it on, then leaned against the side of the bench. The silence came back. “Um… I’m gonna make a cuppa. Do you want one?”

He perked up a bit, moving to sit at the table now, “YES PLEASE! THAT WOULD BE LOVELY.”

She nodded, then reached up to a cupboard where Alphys had pointed for the mugs, “milk and sugar?” She peered over her shoulder to look at him.

“JUST MILK THANKS. I’M NOT MUCH OF A SUGAR PERSON. NOT LIKE MY BROTHER ANYWAY.”

“Sure.” With that, she set about making two cups of tea, reaching for the box of tea bags and honey jar, then going to the fridge to pull out the milk. Items retrieved and ready for use, she leaned back against the countertop, waiting for the kettle to finish. She was briefly reminded of how weird everything felt on her supposed ‘new’ hands.

Feeling the awkward silence creep back, she pulled out her phone and aimlessly scrolled through one of her apps until the kettle finished. Bailey wasn’t the best at conversation starters when it came to new people, but she could already tell that Papyrus was a big sweetheart. It shouldn’t be too hard to strike conversation with him, and she was sure he’d understand her awkwardness.

“So,” she asked as she poured the water, before reaching for the milk, “you said you have a brother?” She remembered him mentioning that when they had first met as well.

Papyrus straightened up a little, flashing her a beaming smile. “OH! YES, I DO!” Was his voice always this loud? Probably. “HIS NAME IS SANS, HE’S MY OLDER BROTHER.” She paused for a moment, the milk nearly spilling onto her free hand. That was the name that Undyne had mistaken her for when they first met. She quickly recovered however.

“Oh? As in like, the font sans?” She came over the table and handed him his cup, which he thanked her for, and sipped graciously as she returned to the counter, sipping her own drink.

“YES, VERY MUCH LIKE MY OWN.” He looked proud of that, and rightly so. The name seemed perfectly suited to him. “ALTHOUGH, IT’S HARD FOR PEOPLE TO BELIEVE WE ARE BROTHERS SOMETIMES. HE’S VERY MUCH A COMIC, AS MUCH AS I HATE TO ADMIT IT… AND SIGNIFICANTLY SHORTER THAN ME. COME TO THINK OF IT…” Papyrus studied her for a moment. “NEARLY AS SHORT AS YOU.”

She gaped at him, throwing a hand up to her chest in fake offence,” Oh! I’m not that short!”

“WELL, HOW TALL ARE YOU?” A slightly smug look creeped in his boney face. She ignored it.

“Five foot.” She puffed out her chest, turning her chin up.

Papyrus smirked, “HE’S FIVE FOOT THREE.”

Bailey threw a glare, scoffing. “That’s hardly any difference!”

“STILL TALLER THAN YOU.” The smug grin only got bigger.

“Anyway!” She looked away for a second, turning back to their original conversation. “What’s he like?” She gestured her hand aimlessly in the air.

His grin faltered a bit.

Papyrus then gave an exaggerated response, rolling his figurative eyes. He threw his hands in the air. “DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED! HE IS LITERALLY THE LAZIEST CREATURE YOU WILL EVER MEET! AND THOSE GOD AWFUL PUNS… HIS BAD JOKES DRIVE ME NUTS!”

A small, devious smile crept onto her face. “Are they punny at least?”

“NO, THEY’RE N-”

Papyrus glared at her.

Her smile got bigger.

“NO.”

And bigger.

“NO!”

“Yes.”

“DON’T YOU-”

“Was it-”

“STOP-”

“Humerus?”

“ _NOOOOOO!_ ” Papyrus threw his hands in the air dramatically, yelling. Bailey couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“HOW COULD YOU?!” His head dipped into his arms as he folded them onto the table with a loud thud. “YOU TRAITOR...” This groan was softer, but still a groan no less.

She barked another gentle laugh. “Oh, c’mon Papyrus, that was pretty good!”

“YOU’RE AS BAD AS HE IS.”

“You left yourself open to that.” She playfully retorted.

“Oh, he’s gonna like you! Fuhuhu!” Came another voice as Undyne entered the room with a laugh of her own, now dressed in her work clothes. Apparently today was self defense teaching. She then patted the tall skeleton's shoulder. “He’s never gonna let you live that down Papyrus.”

“PLEASE DON’T SAY ANYTHING TO HIM.” He shot her a glare. Bailey suddenly had the feeling that this ‘Sans’ took every opportunity he got with his brother. She’d have to be careful herself if she ever met him.

“W-well,” said Alphys as she wobbled into the kitchen herself, the only real change being a different, but clean shirt underneath her lab coat. “We best be g-going now, why don’t y-you show her around the p-place Papyrus? I’m sure she’s n-n-not familiar with this part of t-town.” She flashed her a smile, her larger front buck-like teeth poking out even more than usual. It wasn’t off-putting though, rather friendly on the goofy side if anything. It certainly added to her character.

“ACTUALLY, I FEEL LIKE IT'S MORE OF A SMALL CITY NOW, BUT YES! THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA. IF THAT’S OK WITH YOU OF COURSE?” He’d straightened up at the idea, and looked to Bailey for confirmation, and she nodded.

“Yea, that’s fine. S’not like I'm going anywhere soon anyway.” She smiled at them gently, but her eyes betrayed the momentary sadness in them. Undyne and Alphys looked at each other before returning the same expression, Papyrus didn’t seem to notice. Or, at least if he did, he didn’t show it, nor make any comment on it.

“WONDERFUL! THEN WE SHALL START WITH THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBOURHOOD. WE COULD STOP BY A CAFE OR SOMETHING WHILE WE ARE AROUND, OR EVEN GO PAST OUR HOUSE.” He beamed at his own idea. He was, somehow, becoming increasingly adorable by the second.

She smiled. They’d be great friends for sure. “Awesome, let me just get out of these PJ’s first.”

“Your stuff is on the line punk,” Undyne pointed to the door that led out of the kitchen into their yard, before flashing her a toothy grin. “See ya later! Make sure you lock up on the way out.”

“WE WILL.” Said Papyrus.

With that, both Undyne and Alphys turned and left the house.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more time with Papyrus! Some insight on her souls stats, and of course, spaghetti.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so just I just feel like I should say that atm the last few, and next couple chapters are already written, which is why they are being pumped out so fast. All I'm doing is edits/adjustments whoop... Apologies if these are fairly long
> 
> not entirely sure how I feel on this chapter... eh, otherwise enjoy

These walks that they took were very pleasant, and it was at least the seventh one the two had been for now. Today's walk so much so that she’d almost completely missed whatever Papyrus had said as they entered his house, fumbling with the keys with annoyance.

It was slightly more modern looking then the one Undyne and Alphys owned, but extremely cozy. Upon entering the main entry is what merged into a large lounge room, with a wall separating them on the right that led into a lovely kitchen and dining area. Further back in the lounge was a set of stairs, which must have led to the bedrooms, and a door that led out into a backyard of their own. It was set up rather nicely as well. Bailey couldn’t help but notice the sock on the floor however, its piled up sticky notes being the eye catcher of the room. 

That was certainly interesting.

When they first went for a walk, the skeletons had walked along the footpaths, going through the surrounding neighbourhoods until they reached what seemed to be another somewhat semirural area, and passed by the skeleton brothers house. He'd promised that he’d properly show her his house on a later date. She also hadn’t realised how close Undyne and Alphys lived, considering how quiet the area was. Bailey had also taken a bit to get changed before they left that morning, making sure her phone was charged and Koda had his leash. Papyrus had played with him as he waited for her. The reason for her delay however was because she couldn’t help but feel conflicted with the prospect of underwear, as the items no longer fitted like they used to. Eventually she opted that it would be a good idea to put the bottoms on due to discomfort of not having them, but she saw no use for a bra anymore. Her figure was still defined, somehow, but there was nothing she could physically see that called for the support. She’d briefly wondered if that was the case for all female skeletons.

On the last couple walks they had, including today’s, the two had stopped to grab a coffee from a little café. Apparently a favourite spot of Papyrus’ and his brother Sans. The café itself was delightful, and held a certain charm to it. It was certainly welcoming. Bailey decided to make that a conversation starter as she now followed the tall skeleton into the kitchen area, letting Koda off of the leash.

“You know, I worked at a café,” she said, “it was kinda like the one we visited before, but nowhere near as welcoming as the one we went to.”

“REALLY? WOWIE! THAT’S COOL. I WAS CONSIDERING GETTING A JOB THERE, BUT ALL THE POSITIONS WERE FULL, SO I GOT A SPOT AT ANOTHER COFFEE SHOP A FEW BLOCKS DOWN. IT’S NOT AS NICE AS THAT PLACE UNFORTUNATELY.” He frowned.

“Huh, go figure.” Bailey chuckled.

“YES, QUITE,” he said. “BUT, AS I KEEP TELLING MYSELF. IT’S BETTER THAN SERVING HOT DOGS ALL DAY.” He cringed slightly.

“Oh? Is that what your brother does?” She said as she watched Papyrus pull out various items from the cupboards, ingredients for what looked like spaghetti.

“YES. THAT, AND A FULL TIME COMEDIAN.” Papyrus explained. “SOMETIMES HE HELPS ALPHYS DOWN AT HER LAB TOO. HE’S BEEN DOING AN AWFUL LOT OF VISITING RECENTLY SINCE SHE ASKED HIM FOR HELP... WELL, FOR SOMEONE WHO’S LAZY AT LEAST. I SWEAR HE DOES THE OUTRIGHT BARE MINIMUM WHERE POSSIBLE.”

“Oh wow, two scientists. That’s really cool.” Her sockets widened a bit.

“IT IS, I GUESS. IT’S INTERESTING THOUGH. IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE HE WORKED AS A SCIENTIST. I'M NOT SURE WHAT GOT HIM BACK INTO IT… BUT PERHAPS IT REALLY WAS THIS WHOLE TRANSITION THING. IT’S CERTAINLY GOTTEN A LOT OF PEOPLE CURIOUS.”

“Yeah… No kidding.” A thought crossed her mind, “Where is he now?” 

“SELLING HOT DOGS.” He stated plainly. “WEEKDAYS EXCEPT TUESDAYS ARE HOT DOG DAYS.”

“Ah.” She replied. She was getting curious, it’d be nice to meet his brother at some point if she could.

Papyrus seemed delighted at the idea of her visiting his place, and before long the two had started cutting up various vegetables whilst they talked. It was a good chance to get to know him more, and possibly meet his brother should he return from work before she left. The taller skeleton stopped momentarily after a sudden sound came from him, both of them glancing to its source. He then pulled out his phone from a pocket in his jumper.

“HEY, UNDYNE AND ALPHYS ARE HEADING OUT FOR A 'BFF MOVIE NIGHT', AND WON’T BE BACK UNTIL LATE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY HERE FOR DINNER? OR EVEN FOR THE NIGHT? WE HAVE A SPARE BEDROOM SET UP.”

She pondered the offer for a moment. She’d by lying if she said she didn’t feel like she was still somewhat imposing in the besties household. It’d also be a nice change of scenery after all. “Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude or anything.”

“NONSENSE! WE’D LOVE TO HAVE YOU HERE! OR I WOULD AT LEAST. IT’S SO NICE WHEN WE HAVE PEOPLE OVER.” He clearly loved the company.

“Ok, sure then...” She suddenly hesitated, mid cut of a poor little carrot. “Uh… I don’t have my bag. Or my phone charger.”

“NOT TO WORRY! I’LL ASK SANS TO SWING BY AND GRAB THEM FOR YOU WHEN HE’S FINISHED.” Before she had the chance to respond he’d already opened his messenger box to his brother, and responded to Undyne as well. She didn’t really have a choice now it seemed. 

Not that she minded. She was starting to very much enjoy the ridiculously tall skeletons company. Bailey also couldn’t help notice a slight reddish-orange blush dusting his cheekbones whenever Undyne texted him, and smirked a little, but didn't say anything.

A thought came into mind as a silence started to settle. “So, Papyrus...” She began, glancing at Koda as he waited for any scraps to fall on the floor.

“YES BAILEY?” He looked at her quizzically. 

“Back when we first met,” she continued cutting the carrot, dicing it into small pieces before throwing them into a small bowl to the side, “You mentioned something about my HP. I haven’t had the chance to ask anyone about it before, since I was mostly sleeping, or forgot… But, I just couldn’t shake it off, you know?” She looked at him with a small smile, thinking that it would help. The shorter skeleton recalled the conversation they’d had when she’d first arrived at the couples house, where Papyrus had brought up his concern for her HP levels. None of them shared why at the time of course, saying that they’d tell her later, so she was left to wonder. 

She noticed him look away, and felt the need for further explanation. “I noticed you guys staring at my chest area a few times… It started making me uncomfortable, but I can only assume that’s the reason for it. I can’t see any other explanation for it aside from just being creepy.”

He chuckled nervously, a hand thrown up behind his skull. “AH… YES, I DO APOLOGISE FOR THAT. IT CERTAINLY WASN’T THE INTENTION.” he regained his posture however, before pulling out a pan to start the sauce, snagging the two cut onions and some garlic. “BUT YES. WE WERE CHECKING YOUR SOUL. IT SEEMED DANGEROUSLY HURT. WE WERE WORRIED IT WAS GOING TO CRACK MORE, OR DULL EVEN FURTHER.”

She gave him a look. “I’m… Sorry?” She had a fair bit of knowledge about souls and monster stats, but while she knew of this stuff before, this was a first for her to be directly associated with it. It wasn't like she knew how to check her own soul herself. He smiled, amused at her slight confusion. 

Then there was that familiar sinking feeling in her figurative stomach again. _Oh no…_ She thought.

“YOUR SOUL HAS BEEN DAMAGED,” he said, throwing in the diced onions, “WHICH I CAN ONLY ASSUME IS THANKS TO THE TRANSITION.”

She nodded. It made sense. Especially since it was without a doubt the reason she was dealing with these issues in the first place. For once she realised that it didn’t occur to her that it had actually directly affected her soul. “Huh…” She reached for a capsicum. “So, with my soul then… Is it really that bad?”

He stiffened, then frowned. “YOUR SOUL… YOUR SOUL IS DIFFERENT. IT’S NOT EXACTLY HUMAN ANYMORE, BUT IT’S NOT REALLY MONSTER EITHER.” He threw the garlic into the pan, followed by tomato paste. “IT’S LIKE A MIX BETWEEN THE TWO, BUT, IT WAS ALSO YOUR STATS THAT HAD US WORRIED.” 

He glanced at her, before throwing in the tomatoes. “YOUR SOUL WAS A BIT DULL, AND SEEMED TO HAVE A CRACK IN IT ALONG THE SIDE, DAMAGE WE ASSUMED FROM THE TRANSITION. IT’S QUITE A DRAMATIC CHANGE AFTER ALL. THE CRACK IS MOSTLY GONE NOW THOUGH, THANK GOD, AND WE DIDN’T WANT YOU FALLING. YOUR STATS HOWEVER… YOU ONLY HAVE A MAXIMUM OF TWELVE HP, AND YOU WERE HANGING AROUND FOUR WHEN UNDYNE FOUND YOU. YOUR DEFENSE IS AT A TWO. EVEN FOR A REGULAR MONSTER, THOSE ARE DANGEROUSLY LOW. YOUR ATTACK IS A DECENT TWENTY THREE THOUGH.” 

Papyrus looked slightly impressed by that little fact. “BUT, AGAIN… WE HAVE ASSUMED THAT THIS IS DAMAGE DONE BY THE CHANGE YOU’VE GONE THROUGH. ALPHYS HAS BEEN LOOKING INTO IT, AND IT SEEMS TO BE FAIRLY COMMON TO THOSE WHO WENT THROUGH THE TRANSITION… ESPECIALLY THE SKELETAL TRANSFORMATIONS. SPEAKING OF WHICH.”

The sickening feeling welled a little deeper, and she felt nauseous again. “HAVE YOU BEEN… I DON’T KNOW… SICK? OR FELT SICK IN SOME WAY? THERE'S AN ILLNESS THAT COMES WITH IT, BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU-”

“Uhm, Papyrus. Where’s your bathroom?” She didn’t mean to make that sound mean or demanding, but it seemed that this was happening right on cue to answer his question. Why, of all times, just when the day had been all good so far? At least it wasn’t happening as much now, reduced to once a day... Was this what it’s like to have morning sickness?

He looked startled, “WE HAVE A LAUNDRY ROOM JUST DOWN THERE-” As soon as he pointed it out, she bolted towards it, and hurled into the sink. Thank goodness there was nothing in it. Papyrus had quickly turned off the stovetop and followed suit, a look of pity on his face. He was partially regretting asking now. Koda had also rushed in, having planted himself near the kitchen entrance when no food had fallen. The hurling continued for at least a minute, thorough and aggressive as her body shook. Her energy left her. It was slightly getting worse the more the time between each hurl itself reduced. What was twice a day turned into one, but started becoming random. It wasn’t fun in the slightest. Papyrus looked very concerned.

“THAT EXPLAINS THAT.” He simply said, rubbing her back in comfort. He didn’t seem phased by the hurling. When she ceased, he gently guided her to the table near the kitchen area, careful not to move too fast in case she threw up again. Bailey couldn’t help feel embarrassed. 

“S-sorry.” She said without looking at him, sitting in the chair he pulled out.

He knelt next to her, “PLEASE, DON’T BE. THIS ISN’T UNUSUAL FROM WHAT I CAN TELL. IS THIS REGULAR?” She nodded. “HAVE YOU TOLD ALPHYS?”

She gave him a look, and in doing so he knew the answer. Lying was something she never really did, not that she liked it, but if you never said anything, then technically it doesn’t count. That was her logic anyway. “YOU NEED TO TELL HER BAILEY. SKELETONS IN GENERAL SHOULDN’T BE THROWING UP. IT’S REALLY BAD FOR US, SINCE IT’S MOSTLY RAW MAGIC. AND YOU’RE THROWING UP WAY MORE THEN ANY SKELETON SHOULD BE.”

She shook her head, “I’ll be fine Papyrus… there's not much I can do about-”

“NO IT’S NOT. YOUR HP LITERALLY JUST WENT DOWN BY SEVERAL POINTS. THAT’S NOT OK.”

“Papyrus, I promise, it’s fine, I’m telling you... “ Bailey had told both Alphys and Undyne about it, but neither were aware of how bad it was getting. Alphys had enough on her plate as it was thanks to this phenomenon, and she certainly didn’t want to make it more stressful by getting them to fret over her health. They’d done enough of that already. Plus, from what Alphys had said anyway when she asked her about it, it seemed that this was a sickness she’d have to wait out, as there was no current medicine to help cure it. And while she’d be down for temporary medicine to relieve the heaving, it either didn’t seem to work, or last very long. So, with that knowledge, she’d simply dismissed the idea until something permanent that actually helped came out. 

“Please Papyrus, don’t tell Alphys. She has enough going on already.”

“ON THE CONTRARY, I FEEL LIKE IT WOULD ACTUALLY AID HER. I STRONGLY SUGGEST-”

“Please!” That came out a little more desperate than intended, voice raising slightly. It hurt a little as well, so she forced herself to take a breath. “Please… Promise me you won’t tell Alphys how bad it is.”

He faltered. Then narrowed his sockets. “OK, BUT ONLY IF YOU PROMISE ME SOMETHING.” 

It was her turn to frown. “Yes?”

“PROMISE ME _YOU’LL_ TELL HER IF IT GETS ANY WORSE.”

She was going to bend that promise as much as she could for sure, but nodded regardless. “I promise.” It was then when Koda decided to jump up onto her lap. She’d completely forgotten about her fur baby.

She sighed, “so, we gonna get to this spaghetti?” She gestured to the stovetop, smiling weakly at him. She wanted to change topics now. He still had height over her even as he knelt. Damned tall people. 

His face immediately brightened, and she assumed he was eager for the change as well. “OH! OF COURSE! LET US GET BACK TO IT.” He stopped. “UH… ARE YOU GOING TO BE OK?”

She nodded, “I’ll be fine.” She got up, Koda jumping to the floor to follow and went to the counter, reaching for one of the canned tins of crushed tomato, as it seemed the fresh ones weren’t going to be enough. “What? Don’t think I _can_ handle it?”

He stared at her, before throwing his hands in the air and groaning. “OH MY GOD! THAT WAS TERRIBLE. I FEEL BETRAYED!” 

She laughed. “I could be _saucy_ instead, but that’s not _spicy_ enough if you ask me.” He head desked on the table, groaning in defeat. 

Bailey came up to him, and whispered, “you look like you’re…”

He eyed her with a death stare.

She smiled smugly, “having a bad _thyme._ ”

“I WILL THROW YOU OUT THE WINDOW IF YOU CONTINUE.” She laughed even harder, her sides hurting a little thanks to the hurling from before, and reached a hand to him in temporary truce. He took it, and they went back to making their spaghetti, throwing in the rest of the ingredients bit by bit to ensure it came out the best it could be.

And it was delicious. Most of the chopping had been done before her little sick tip, so it was just waiting around mostly. The two had continued chatting, and her truce on the jokes soon perished, cracking the occasional pun here and there. They ate in front of the television, placed ever so comfortably on their, particularly long corner couch. It took up a lot of the wall opposite the TV, and partially on the wall opposite to the front door. There was a bean bag in the corner of the walls near the end of the couch, and a coffee table was placed in line of the TV. 

They finished their plates easily enough, and Bailey hadn’t realised how hungry she was. Papyrus mentioned that food helps to recover the loss of magic and HP. She certainly felt better, but was a little conscious of how much earlier she ate compared to normal, as it was only five when she ate.

After dinner, they then went on to clean the dishes, as well as the rest of the mess they’d made from the cooking from before. They deliberately left it there until after they’d eaten. Papyrus was busy with dishes while she put the leftovers in a container, as well as some aside on a plate for whenever Sans returned. 

“I don’t know about you,” she began, “but that was some of the best pasta I’ve had in awhile.”

“I THINK IT WAS ALL THE MORE BETTER WITH YOU HERE. DEFINITELY ONE OF MY BETTER BATCHES!”

“Haha, even if you had to deal with my bad puns?” she chuckled.

He groaned, “YES, EVEN IF I HAD TO ENDURE THOSE.”

“You just can’t handle the heat,” She teased, leaning her side against the counter to face him.

“PLEASE, SPARE ME OF YOUR TORTURE. SANS IS GOING TO DO PLENTY OF THAT WHEN HE GETS HERE, I DON’T NEED _TWO_ JESTERS WHO THINK THEY’RE FUNNY. ONE IS ENOUGH.” He grumbled as he washed one of the plates.

“Oh, c’mon Paps… You know I could’ve _dished_ out more if I wanted.” He glared at her, an eye socket twitching. “But, your plate was full enough as it was, so I played nice.”

He looked like he was trying to hide a smile as he groaned, his gaze turned away now. He did well to conceal it. “YOU ARE JUST AS BAD AS HE IS. AND I WAS JUST STARTING TO LIKE YOU.”

“He sounds like a funny guy if you ask me.” she raised a boney brow, grinning obnoxiously.

“HE HAS A _TERRIBLE_ SENSE OF HUMOUR!” Papyrus whined.

“hey. i like to think i’m funny, thank you.”

Both of them jumped. 

The deep voice sounded right behind her. And way too close for Bailey's liking. The two skeletons whipped around, Papyrus yelping a little and Bailey nearly outright shrieking. Apparently Koda hadn’t noticed either, and started barking furiously.

Standing before her was another skeleton.

Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whOO the other shortie appears! Noice


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A slightly shorter chapter? we have more puns thrown, and a small introductory. 
> 
> The shorties really think they're funny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna see some drawings related to this fic visit the hashtag #WIITBAS in my tumblr! [FruitSnackArt](https://fruitsnackart.tumblr.com/)

Well. She wasn’t exactly sure what she expected when she turned around.

Of course, she’d sort of had an idea, seeing as Undyne, and possibly Alphys at the time, had mistaken her for him, but it wasn’t like she could guess what exactly he looked like based on what she’d heard about him. His deep, monotone voice also caught her off guard. He sounded nothing like Papyrus.

Although she wasn’t too far off on her general guess. 

His skull was the same structure as hers, resembling nothing like his brother Papyrus. Granted, his was rounder than hers, with slightly bigger cheekbones, while Bailey’s had more defined features with sharper curves to give off the feminine look. But, other than that they were almost identical shape wise. She now properly understood when Papyrus had said people had a hard time seeing them as brothers. That being said though, she could somehow sense the resemblance. Maybe that was because she was a skeleton herself now. She wasn’t exactly sure.

He was, to her dismay, in fact taller than her. The top of his head came up under his brother's shoulder. There wasn’t too much of a difference, but it was enough to make her have to look up, even more so than when she had to look up at Alphys. Sans bore a blue hoodie, with his work shirt underneath, as well as a pair of jeans. His sneakers laces looked like they were going to come undone. There were also slightly dark circles under his sockets, and her duffle bag was slung over his shoulder. He was also somewhat on the chubby side as well, much to her amusement.

Sans and Bailey shared a look of surprise, but clearly for different reasons. She hadn’t expected him to just show up right behind her, which was understandable, but why he was surprised she had no idea. Sans quickly recovered however, and gave her a tired smile. He had a lazy grin, and wondered if that was his normal look. She definitely could see him with the description Papyrus gave her about him, he seemed the lazy, comical type. But also ridiculously tired.

It took her a few moments to register the fact Koda was still barking furiously at him, and Sans backed off a little, throwing his hands up a little in defense. “woah, easy buddy.”

“Koda!” She said, quickly reaching to grab him, “this isn’t your house… Sorry.”

“s’alright. i’d do the same if i was him.” He simply said.

“SANS! DON’T SCARE US LIKE THAT. WHY COULDN’T YOU HAVE JUST USED THE DOOR!?” Papyrus bellowed.

“sorry bro,” Sans replied, hand scratching the back of his skull, “but, _fur_ real, i would’ve been caught in a _hairy_ situation either way.”

Papyrus glared at him, and he winked. Bailey snickered, and his face beamed a little from the response. “SANS.” There was a dangerous tone there.

Sans went to respond, but Bailey beat him to it. “What? Barking up the wrong tree are we?” Koda was still doing his half barking, half growling thing to emphasise the pun.

Papyrus’s death glare shot towards her, and Sans stared at her before snorting a snicker, which she grinned at. “BAILEY NO.”

“Is it _paws_ -able he'll lose his head if we keep going?” She looked at Sans, who now starting laughing.

“dunno. depends if we put a _leash_ on it.” Bailey's own laughter joined in.

“STOP!” Papyrus yelled, throwing his hands to his sockets.

“aw, bro, you look like you’re having a _ruff_ time.” 

“PLEASE! I CAN’T HANDLE ONE JOKESTER, LET ALONE TWO!”

“c’mon paps, _howl_ could you not love them? they’re not that _terrier_ -able.” Both short skeletons were cackling now.

Sans and Bailey laughed harder by the minute, and poor Papyrus looked like he wanted to stop existing, despite a smile that was trying to surface. “I’M LEAVING! YOU TWO CAN INTRODUCE YOURSELVES. I’M GOING TO WATCH TV.” He yelled as he walked past them grumbling. Bailey saw one last opportunity, and smirked.

“Hey, _Pup_ -pyrus?” He turned around with a glare, eyeing her dangerously. She briefly wondered if he was actually going to toss them out the window. 

“YES, _BAILEY?_ ” Papyrus said through gritted teeth.  
  
She put on a sweet smile, tilting her head innocently to seem like she was finished, “Why don’t you choose a movie for us to watch?” He visibly relaxed a little, and she went for it. “I’m sure whatever you _papillon_ for us will be great.” She lifted Koda a little for emphasis.

Both of them stared at her, it was clear the pun was a little unclear at first. 

Then Sans howled in laughter, tears pricking his sockets now, and Papyrus threw his hands up in defeat. “I GIVE UP ON YOU.” He reached for the remote.

“heh, c’mon! that was a good one, paps! not even _remotely_ funny?” Sans said between laughs. “i don’t think even i’ve made that joke before.”

“JUST AS WELL YOU TWO ARE SUITED TO EACH OTHER, _NOW PLEASE SPARE ME_.” He said sarcastically, not even bothering to look at them.

The shorter skeletons continued to laugh, much to Papyrus’s dismay. The jokes however did cease as they calmed down, their figurative sides hurting. They looked at each other in an awkward silence, and Bailey partially considered moving to the living room with Papyrus, although her attempt to do so was enough for Sans to speak up.

“so, bailey huh? nice to finally meet you. names sans. sans the skeleton,” he held out a hand towards her, and she took it with a small smile. That was, until a loud farting sound filled the room. She could hear Papyrus groan from the living room.

Sans was grinning at her, and she erupted into laughter again. He seemed pleased. “Haha! Oh my gosh… You too,” She said between laughs. “Papyrus has told me a lot about you.” 

He raised a boney brow, the semi permanent grin widening a bit. “yeah? since you came into the picture he hasn’t shut up about you. wouldn’t stop worrying.” He slipped the duffle bag off his shoulder and passed it to her, “i believe this is yours?”

“Oh! Yeah, thank you.” She placed Koda back down to the floor, to which he immediately went to investigate Sans, and swung the bag over her own shoulder. She chuckled nervously. “Thanks for grabbing them for me, I wasn’t expecting to stay the night… I hope you don’t mind.”

“s’fine. don’t mention it.” He smiled, before turning his heel and heading off towards the staircase, presumably to shower or at least change out of his work clothes. She watched him curiously, his deep voice was oddly soothing, and somewhat attractive. It was considerably different from Papyrus’ loud voice, much quieter and calming. Bailey couldn’t help but like it. To be honest though, Sans as a whole seemed to be a lot more easy to be around then Papyrus, his low energy being a comfort rather than the high energy from the taller skeleton. Bailey had a feeling he would sit around all day if he could, whereas Papyrus could hardly sit still for a minute when he isn’t pre-occupied. 

As Sans rounded the corner, he stopped and looked at Papyrus, before gazing at her, “i’ll show you to the guest bedroom. can’t imagine you wanna sleep on the couch again.”

Ah. So he was observant too. Fabulous. “Uh, yea nah… Not that I wouldn’t appreciate it though.” Bailey walked towards him, and Papyrus shot her a smile. Then they disappeared up the stairs, Sans scrolling through his phone as he led her to the guest bedroom, also pointing out the bathroom down the hall. 

“pap’s will get you some fresh sheets before you go to bed. feel free to ask if ya need something.” He said, before heading off to his room, Bailey thanking him as he did so. She dumped the bag beside the bed and sat on it for a moment, taking in her surroundings. It was set up simply, a double-bed in the corner, a small desk on the opposite wall, and a small, in-built wardrobe with a mirror on the door to the wall the bedside sat against. There was also a small painting on the wall near the window. As plain as it was, it felt cozy.

Taking in a deep breath, she stood, changing into her pj's, and exited into the hall, heading back down the stairs to join Papyrus for the rest of the movie. Koda planted himself comfortably beside her by her feet. The taller skeleton had put on some classic that she hadn’t heard of, but the music in it was awesome just the same. Sans also appeared somewhat later, still bearing the blue jumper, but now with a deep blue shirt that had a science pun on it, black sports shorts with a white stripe down the side, and a pair of pink slippers. That just topped the cake of his appearance, and she couldn’t help snickering a little when she saw them. He raised a boney brow at her, but grinned back at her. He took pride in his lazy dress code apparently. 

Sans headed to the kitchen, and soon returned to take the seat between her and Papyrus on the couch, a bottle of ketchup in hand. Bailey eyed him quizzically, before the little lights disappeared in her sockets. He drank it straight out of the bottle. 

“Dude… Seriously.” she whispered to him.

“what? can’t _ketchup_ to my level?” he whispered back, and she rolled her eyelights in response as they returned, scoffing a little.

They sat in silence for a little, but she could feel his gaze from time to time. 

“Something ya’ wanna ask?” Her eyelights glanced to him, not bothering to turn her head.

“yea actually. what gives with the accent?” He asked, looking at her with furrowed brows.

“Australian. The bogan version of English.” she simply stated.

He snorted a little. He wasn’t exactly expecting the smartass tone response, but was neither surprised by it. He managed to click on the connection. “huh. never heard it from an actual aussie ‘till now. it's even worse than i thought.” He winked at her, making sure she didn’t take that the wrong way.

She turned her head to look at him, raising her brows before smirking. “Oh, it gets worse.”

"really?”

“You have no idea.” She said as she shook her head, attention returning to the TV. Once more, they sat in silence, while Papyrus made comments here and there as they watched the movie. Today had been a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhaa what is personalities?? I know these characters well but I never thought it'd actually be difficult trying to portray them pfft
> 
> I tried :')


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we dive a little into her past, to know a little more about her, find out how she received her injury, and talk to Sans.
> 
> blankets are snug man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mentions of murder/getting shot in the nightmare,  
> proceed if you wish

There was a gunshot. The high pitch ringing that followed after the deafening bang was enough to send her running, but when she tried to move, her feet seemed glued to the floor.

Bailey let out a scream, she could hear footsteps coming closer towards her. The room itself was pitch black, and she couldn’t see who or what was coming. She tried to move again, but the attempt was no use. The more she tried, the more immobile she was. It was like she was being constricted, with no room to breathe. Her own breath hitched, and she struggled to keep herself from going into a full-blown panic attack. She had subconsciously started hyperventilating at some point, but when that was she had no idea.

She was not able to grasp the concept of time here.

A light blared in her eyes, and she could see the exit to the alley. Blurred car lights and street lamps reflected on the puddles on the cold stone pavement, the neon shop signs that scattered the street somehow dulled. Shouldn’t they be brighter? 

Bailey didn’t care however, all she could think of was to get out of there. And as fast as she could. Maniacal laughter sounded around her, and she couldn’t pinpoint its source. It was deep and menacing, full of malicious intent. More gunshots surrounded her, and she screamed again, but the sound only resonated in her head, drowned out of reality into a voiceless breath. 

She stole a glance behind her and could see the figure walking towards her, pistol in hand. He had a horrible smile on his face, eyes glaring holes into her. She knew she shouldn’t have gone with him in the first place. He called out to her, and she turned to run, urging her legs to break through their struggle. But, even as she moved now, the alley seemed to just get longer and longer, and the man moved effortlessly towards her. 

An exit she could never reach. 

It was always that way.

Bailey slipped on the path, but as she regained her footing, her foot bumped into a piece of the path that was jutting out. She fell flat on her face, the puddle soaking her to the point she felt like she was glued there. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Bailey heard the man laugh, and her heart raced. She attempted to lift herself up, but when she pulled away, her clothes… no, her skin, started to stretch, almost like melted cheese would from a grilled sandwich. Her eyes went wide, that wasn’t supposed to happen. 

Why was she melting?

Her clothes stuck to her now, and she tried to pry them away only for her hands to melt into them, and pulling only seemed to be like separating a sticky goo. She forced herself not to gag. She couldn’t see herself in the puddle, the reflection blurry and dark, and cried out as she recalled an immense pain the last time this had happened… Wait, when had this happened before? 

She was broken from her thoughts as a click sounded behind her, and she whipped herself around. The pistol was aimed at her, the man cackling horrifically as he glared. As she stared back, she noticed his wild glare had turned into a snarl, and he said something that she couldn’t make out. Her hands flew up in defense, but as she did so, she found herself staring in horror as she was greeted with boney phalanges. The man took the chance to cross the space between them, and stood towering above her. Without a second thought, she whipped her hand at him, and something white flashed before her, hitting him square in the chest. He stumbled back a little, but it was enough for her to regain her footing and take off in a hurry. 

The man was faster however. He caught up within a matter of seconds, tackling her into the wall off to the side. She panicked, thrashing and squirming in his grasp as he went to hit her, choking her in his arms as he did so. And arm suddenly broke free, and she swung at him, square in the nose. He buckled a bit in pain, and she landed the next blow into his side with her elbow. He stumbled back a bit, and Bailey was released. 

As soon as she started running, something sharp hit her back, burning with a bang that followed suit. There was more ringing in her head as she toppled over, doubling over in pain. A boney hand reached up, and she felt herself bleeding. Blood was pooling quickly. 

Another resounding click, and she flipped onto her back only to stare into the barrel of the pistol, aimed straight between her sockets. Tears welled up, and he muttered something inaudible. She screamed in protest, but was only greeted with a wicked smile, before his face blanked out into something expressionless as he pulled the trigger.

“ _NO!_ ”

The sound of the bang rang in her mind, and her head pounded in pain as the high pitched noise returned.

“AHHH!”

Bailey shot up from where she laid in the bed.

The short skeleton panted heavily, eyelights missing from her sockets. She took into account of her surroundings, remnants of her nightmare fading in and out of her vision as she looked around frantically. Beads of sweat formed all over her, and she shook vigorously, gazing down at her hands to make sure they weren’t melting. They were fine. 

She was fine.

It took her a few minutes before she could control her breathing, forcing herself to calm down. A hand subconsciously trailed itself up to her right shoulder blade, poking and prodding the hole in it, and rubbed along the crack that lined up and down the bone. The old injury was throbbing a little, sending small waves of pain up and down along her back and neck. A headache had also formed, and her sockets snapped shut from the pain there, hissing a little. Well, that explained the last scene of the nightmare. It wasn't the first time her transformation had merged into the dream, but each time it happened she couldn't grasp why it crossed over, or recalled when the event had actually happened. Not while she was dreaming anyway.

It seemed that her past trauma was starting to resurface, her PTSD being worse then usual. Now that things had caught up to her where she could actually process them, things were starting to merge together. The nightmares weren't usually this frequent nowadays, as the whole ordeal that happened to her as a teenager was years ago, but this new experience just seemed to rile it all up again. Bailey didn't understand why this had resurfaced her past mistake, or why the two scenarios had started mixing, but whether she knew or not didn't change to fact that it was disrupting the progress she'd made to dealing with the trauma of it all. 

The past was her fault though, and she knew that. 

Bailey took a deep breath, before taking another look around the room. It was dark, and everything was still. She hoped that she hadn’t woken up either of the skeleton brothers. The last thing wanted was Papyrus fretting over her mental state, as well as her physical. She doubted Sans was like that, but there was still a chance he would as well. Bailey didn’t know him well enough to be sure. The skeleton found herself staring at her lap, and a flurry of white, brown and black came into view, pressing it’s soft muzzle into her socket and then under her chin. Koda whined a little, his tail wagging as the little fluff ball sought her attention. He looked worried. 

“Hey… Sorry baby...” Bailey picked him up to hold him in her arms, squeezing him lightly for comfort. He squirmed a little before settling comfortably, head drooped over an arm. His tail swayed a little every time she spoke. She could tell he was anxious, the events of suddenly travelling everywhere and her random nightmares jump scaring him awake weren’t doing well for him. But, aside all the chaos, he continued to be there for her, and was still her best friend throughout all of this. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you…” She glanced at him, chuckling nervously, “eheh... I’ve been doing an awful lot of that, ey? Neither of us are getting beauty sleep apparently.” 

Koda looked at her, before twisting his attention to the door. She followed his gaze, and waited quietly. Had someone heard her? A few minutes of waiting, there seemed to be nothing, but the throbbing of her headache was making it hard to focus, as well as the pain in her back. Bailey figured she must’ve slept wrong to resurface the pain there. 

Bailey reached over to the small bedside table and grabbed her phone, wincing a bit from the sudden bright light in her sockets before glancing at the time. Three twenty six, which was fairly early. She also reached for the water glass and downed the water in it, before pulling off her bed sheets and making her way to the door, slipping her phone into a pocket. She looked down at Koda, who still sat comfortably in her arms. “Let’s go see if I can get some pain killers, yea?”

He looked up, his silent answer to agreeing, before turning his attention to whatever she did next. She reached for the door knob, and he stretched out to sniff her hand, which made her snicker a little. They were both still getting used to the change. “I know, it’s weird for me too.” She flexed her phalanges before turning the knob, and, silently, opened the door. Bailey peeked out from behind, as well as Koda, to see if anyone was there, then stepped out into the hallway. She crept along until she reached the bathroom, and pulled out her phone to use the inbuilt flash, closing the door a little to block out some of the light. To her dismay, she couldn’t see any pain killers among the cabinets under the sink counter. “Dammit… Ok, shall we try the kitchen?” Koda whined. That was good enough for her.

“Alright, they should be somewhere in a drawer, right?” She looked at him, and he wagged his tail. They crept back along the hall until they reached the top of the stairs, Bailey took a moment to look back, trying to recall whose room was which. She remembered seeing Sans head down the hall but she didn’t see which one he’d entered, having gone into the guest bedroom herself to dump her stuff.

The stairway made very little noise, but it seemed deafening now that the house was quiet. She reached the bottom, and Koda started wagging his tail. She grunted, thinking he would probably want to go outside, but he wasn’t looking at the door. Rather, his head was turned to the couch. She didn’t bother looking though, the drowsiness starting to settle back in. After all, it wasn't an un-normal thing for him to want to settle on the biggest pile of pillows and blankets he could find. She sighed, deciding against putting him down so she wouldn’t lose her current comfort, still being a bit rattled from the nightmare.

“heya.”

It took every part of her to stop her from screaming. A hand flew to her mouth while she silently squealed, eyelights disappearing and nearly dropping her little ball of fluff. She had failed to notice the dim light of a phone as Sans sat on the couch, a blanket over him in the corner. He stared back, his own eyelight’s shrinking. He hadn’t meant to scare her.

A couple seconds of her figurative heart racing, she took a deep breath and responded, trying to shake the quiver in her voice. “Hi.”

“sorry, didn’t mean to startle ya.” He scratched the back of his skull. 

“It’s ok,” she said, then was suddenly reminded of the headache. “Um, you wouldn’t happen to have any, uh... Pain killers, right?”

Sans nodded, then held out a hand towards her. She stared at it for a moment confused, squinting her sockets to see in the dark before seeing the pills there. “i heard ya screaming before. figured i’d save ya the trouble.” He said, answering her confusion. “although, i’m not sure why you’d look in the bathroom first.”

“Oh… My family used to keep extras in there. I guess it’s just habit to check.” She walked over, placing Koda on the sofa and taking the pain killers from him. He shrugged, and handed her a glass of water as well, then watched patiently as she downed the whole glass. She was still shaking a little.

“Thanks.” She chuckled nervously, placing the cup back onto the coffee table.

“don’t mention it.” He said with a shrug. His focus went back to his phone, and she stood there a little awkwardly, unsure of what to do. He looked really tired. Bailey then settled to sit on the couch, picking up Koda to place him on her chest as she tucked her legs up towards her chest. Sans briefly glanced over curiously as she settled, it seemed he wasn’t sure of what to say either. 

An awkward silence startled to settle, so she asked, “so, how come you’re up?”

“couldn’t sleep. insomnia’s an ass.” He simply stated, scrolling through his phone.

“Oh… hah,” she chuckled, patting Koda as she looked at the floor, “that’s relatable.”

Sans looked at her, a boney brow raised. He then put his phone down, “wanna talk about it?”

She glanced at him momentarily, before thinking it over with narrowed sockets. There really wasn’t much of a downside to sharing. She shrugged, “eh, I got shot… In the face.” she said bluntly, however her shudder was enough to tell him she was bothered by it. His brows furrowed in concern, before leaning over the couch’s armrest to grab a blanket, handing it over to her. 

“shit… i’m sorry.” There was a slight tone of pity there.

“S’fine. That’s what trauma does.” She chuckled nervously, her fear showing slightly. 

She noticed him look away, scratching a boney cheek. He looked like he was going to say something, perhaps he could relate? She wasn’t sure, so she tried to change the subject. “Your brother is really cool.”

“yea, he is. he’s very keen about you too.”

Bailey chuckled quietly. “Oh, yeah. I’m so blessed that we met though, he’s been nothing but kind and helpful to me… I feel bad that I haven’t returned it.” She added with a chuckle.

“you’ll get the chance. anything to do with spaghetti will make him happy.” 

“Yeah… I noticed.” She laughed, and he gave her a small smile. “Do you have any other family, or?” she prompted.

Sans shrugged, “that’s direct? no, our mother passed away, and… dad disappeared.” She noticed him hesitate on that last part, and Bailey slightly regretted asking now. Before she could say however, he asked, “what about you?”

“Oh, uh… Well, I have mum and dad, but they’re back in Australia.” She stopped for a moment. She hadn’t contacted either of her parents since this whole ordeal started. She forgot again. Mentally kicking herself, she made a mental note to try call her mum later. Then she continued, “I also had a brother. He was really cool too.”

Sans raised a brow again. He did that a lot. Cautiously, he prompted, “... had?”

She looked at him, and he was giving her a funny look. “Ah, yeah. He… he passed away. His name was Jayden.” Bailey looked away, but could feel his eyelights burning into her skull.

“... how? if you don’t mind me asking.” She noted the hesitation, and appreciated his caution to try not sound like he was prying.

Bailey shrugged, “Cancer. He was about… Three? I think? It’s been a while.” She looked over to see him staring at the coffee table. He didn’t say anything however.

“... Thank you for letting me stay the night.” He snapped out of his thoughts, his eyelights had apparently disappeared because they suddenly popped back into his sockets. “I really appreciate it… I’ll get out of your bones soon, I promise. I just needa find a place of my own first.” 

She winked at him, and his grin returned. The pun seemed to lighten the mood. “heh. don’t worry about it, button. it’s real nice to have someone else who loves bad jokes as much as i do. that dog pun you made yesterday was pretty _humerus_.” He shot his own wink at her.

She snickered, and his grin widened. As if on cue, Koda decided he was gonna settle himself on top of Sans’ lap. The skeleton patted him with a lazy smile, “his name is koda, right?”

She nodded. The little papillon always found his way into people's hearts, even if they physically lacked them. “From the kids movie Brother Bear. He’s my little fur baby. Help’s me with my anxiety and stuff.” 

Sans nodded, before picking up his phone again. “undyne mentioned that she was helping you look for a place. she seems pretty caught up about your little incident with the guy as well… is that true?”

She winced, something changed in his stature that made her feel uncomfortable. Of course he’d know, Papyrus probably told him. “Yea… But, honest to God it was an accident. I really didn’t mean to… I still feel bad about it.” she looked at the wall opposite to her. “... I’m scared I’m gonna do it again.” 

Bailey had to admit, it was one of the subconscious reasons she didn’t want to accompany these guys when she first met any of them, but the fact they were familiar with this stuff outweighed the cons of going with them. It turned out for the better as well, because she had in fact come across not one, but two skeletons that could possibly help her, as well as Undyne who was more than ready to jump into lessons whenever Bailey gives her the ‘ok’. On that note as well, given her stress levels at the time, it was also why she refused Papyrus’s help at first. If she got overwhelmed, she might have accidentally lashed out at him. Not that she thought he’d hold that against her, if anything he'd probably be more worried, but Bailey would never forgive herself if that’d happened to Papyrus. And, by the sounds of it, she’d then have Sans to deal with if that were the case. From what Alphys had described anyway, he didn’t take kindly to those who acted wrongly towards his brother.

“I didn’t wanna accidentally hurt Papyrus.” She added, “it’s why I refused his offers. I didn’t mean to make him worry, but… with how stressed I was and all, I would’ve lashed out at him. He’s so amazing, he really is, but man… He has some _really_ high energy. It would’ve been too much.”

Sans stared at her, then shrugged. “eh. i get that… an’ really appreciate it too. because if you had hurt him intentionally... “ he hesitated, before looking at her with those dark sockets, eyelights completely disappearing. “you would’ve had a bad time.”

Bailey shrunk in on herself a little. This dude meant serious business, despite the aloof attitude he gave off. “‘Ight… noted.” her voice was quiet, barely audible over her own breathing.

The eyelight’s then returned with the lazy grin, “heh. relax button. i’m joking.” 

_Yeah, sure you are_ , she thought, completely ignoring the little name he gave her. “but, seriously. that’s a bit of a mess you’ve gotten yourself into, and undyne’s been looking into it by the sounds of it. so, you can stay here for a bit, more because of paps’ but, i don’t mind as long as you don’t cause trouble. besides,” He said as he got up from the couch, Koda hopping off to sit beside her, and headed over to the tv cabinet, “it sounds like undyne may have found a couple options for ya.” Sans waved his phone.

Bailey watched as he scoured through the movies underneath, pulling a few of them out and placing them on the table. He then grabbed the remote and flipped the TV on. “wanna watch a movie?” He asked.

She blinked for a moment, then smiled as she looked at the pile, grabbing a few of them to select one. “Sure.” She picked a Disney movie, the classic Robin Hood from the pile, and he slipped the movie into the player, before settling back onto his spot on the couch. The movie started playing, and the two skeletons snuggled into their blankets, while Koda made himself comfortable beside Bailey. The two watched until they fell asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was 1 in the morn when I wrote this pls send help


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well... _are_ they cute?"
> 
> "SHUT UP."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a conversation with her mum I guess,  
> enjoy!

“Oh! For goodness sake- OW!” Bailey yelped as she bumped her skull on the corner of the table. She rubbed the sore spot tentatively with a boney hand. 

That was gonna leave a mark.

“ _What? What happened?_ ” Said a voice over the phone.

“Ugh… Nothing, just bumped my head.” She responded, standing up now as she made her way to the kitchen after retrieving the runaway pen. She accidentally dropped it while scribbling tomorrow's shopping list together, not exactly looking forward to the errand itself.

“ _Oh, sweetheart. You need to be more careful._ ” 

“Yea, yea, I know.” Bailey couldn’t help be a bit blunt about that. “It’s not my fault the table assaulted me.”

The woman barked a laugh, “ _of course. My mistake… But, seriously, that’s really good to hear you’ve made some friends throughout all this. I just wished you called me sooner, we would’ve tried to help you._ ”

Well, it wasn't the first time she'd called her mother about this, but the topic always seemed to come back whenever she did call her. 

“Mum, really, it’s fine, it’s like not you could do much anyway.” Bailey tossed her hand in the air, an action she knew her mother couldn’t see but still did regardless. “Besides, you’re already helping just by being there for me. It’s honestly really relieving that you guys are still with me despite… This.” 

“ _Monster or not, you are still our daughter. Nothing is going to change that, and I’m honestly really mad about those who don’t think the same. It’s not their fault they had to go through it after all. I’m still angry with David as well actually._ ”

“Tell me about it.” Bailey sneered a little at that. “But, yea, seriously, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, Undyne and Alphys are amazing people, and I’m sure I’ll find a replacement job soon enough.”

It’d been at least three months since her arrival at Ebott, and so far things had gone well. Undyne had been an immense help on the police side of things regarding the accident with the man, the issue more or less resolving itself now. It had been claimed she wasn’t at fault, thank God, and the man himself, David, had decided it was too much trouble to press when her newer friends started getting involved, Undyne in particular. During this time, Bailey and Undyne were also able to successfully find a set of open units for her that was in the area, snagging the bottom floor one as it had a small front yard she could take Koda outside with. It’s location was ideal as well, it wasn’t too far to the monster BFF's place, and a few minutes walk to a massive park where the skelebros house resided a couple blocks away, but on the opposite side. It was literally the jackpot. Most of the other units were too far away or weren’t pet friendly anyway, so all that was left was finding a new job, which, honestly, she wasn’t keen on.

Her puking sessions however hadn’t changed. Alphys eventually caught on to it, but she still refused any temporary medicine offered to her. The nightmares hadn’t ceased either, though they were a little less frequent now. 

“ _Oh, I know you will, but, even if it was just to see you, or help you settle in. Please give my regards to the others for that by the way._ ”

“I will.” If she was being honest, there wasn’t an awful lot when it came to settling in. The place had been mostly furnished, only a few essentials here and there that she actually needed to buy herself, the only major thing being a bed. Alphys had taken her shopping at little stores to buy things that would make her feel more at home, as well as dog supplies she no longer had with her. She hesitated for a moment, “say, mum... You’re not too peeved about the whole, powers thing, are you?”

“ _… I guess you are going to proceed with it?_ ”

“I mean, I might as well. Better to know how to use it then let that happen again.” She paused. “Besides, who better than other monsters right?” 

“ _I suppose... I’m still so sorry that this has happened to you._ ” She could feel the uneasiness in her mother's voice.

“It’s ok ma’, it could be worse.” A knock sounded at the door, Koda barking as she went to open it, already knowing who it was. Or rather, who they were. The trio had all agreed to have a movie night once she had been properly settled in for a week, and she was actually rather excited about it. Opening the door, she gave Alphys and Undyne a smile and ushered them inside, whispering a greeting as they returned the smile. Koda bounced around at their feet, until Undyne picked him up, patting his head as he tried to attack her face with kisses. She grinned at the small dog.

Closing the door, she followed the others then turned into the kitchen, snagging the kettle. She pulled out some cups, as well as tea bags. “You remember Alphys, right? The monster I told you about earlier? Well, she’s had a lot of patients come into her lab for like, tests and stuff, and a few of them are skeletons as well, so it’s not like I’m alone in this. But, the fact that I’ve come across _two_ actual skeleton monsters? I think is rather lucky. And one of them is definitely more than happy to help with the magic thing, so I’d say that’s a bonus.”

She poured in the hot water, “ _Oh! You mentioned that. It is rather convenient, isn’t it? Do you have the same ‘attacks’ or?_ ” The two monsters sat on the couch, talking quietly amongst themselves as they began pulling out movies from a bag. 

“I’m assuming so? For the most part anyway. We both have bone attacks, but that’s all I know I have so far. Not that I’ve tried again.” She went for the fridge, snagging the milk.

“ _Of course, best not to try until it’s safe to do so. Are they like Undyne and Alphys, or?_ ” She finished up the drinks, before bringing them over to the coffee table. 

“Yea, they’re really cool. I’ve actually stayed at their house a couple times, they have a really nice place. The younger brother, Papyrus, he loves spaghetti, like you have no idea. And the older one is a comedian, he’s actually really funny. Or at least I think so.” A groan could be heard from Undyne in the living room, muttering something inaudible. Bailey snickered. “We literally started making puns when we first met.” Bailey placed the cups on the table, then took her spot on the couch beside Alphys and reached for the remote, smiling at the other two. They quietly thanked her and started drinking their tea, Koda looking at them expectantly as he always did.

“ _Of course you did..._ ” She said that more to herself then to Bailey. It made her grin stupidly.

Then her mum went quiet for a few moments, so she prompted. “Mum? You still there?” 

She looked at the other two, who gave her a funny look in return. Shrugging, Bailey waited for a response. She actually pulled her phone away to see if it was still in call. “Hellooo?” She and Alphys took a sip of their tea.

Then her mother blurted out, “ _... are they cute?_ ”

Both of them spat out their tea. Bailey swore hers came shooting out of her nasal cavity, and the two started coughing. A couple seconds of silence passed before Undyne erupted into laughter, and Alphys couldn’t contain her own giggles as Bailey stared at her phone gawking.

“Mum!” She yelled, whilst her mother laughed in response.

“ _What? Are they?_ ”

Bailey could picture the look her mother was giving her, and gave the other two a look that made them laugh harder by the second. She sat up straighter. “I’m not gonna answer that.” Throwing a glare towards the other monsters, Bailey then held out her phone. “Alright, I gotta go now. I’ll catch up with you later. Love you Mum.”

“ _Love you too! Goodbye honeybun._ ” Her mother sounded reluctant, but ended the call anyway, and she let out a long groan.

Undyne and Alphys were giving her an all too knowing look, that she didn’t even need to see to know what they were thinking. She could practically feel it burning into her skull.

“Don’t.” She simply said.

“FUHUHU! Well, _are_ they?” Undyne teased between laughs, Alphys burying her face in her hands in an attempt to suppress her amusement.

“Stop!” She squealed, a little too high for her own liking. She could feel a blush on her boney cheeks rise from the embarrassment. It came to her attention at some point that it was in fact possible for skeletons to blush, hers being a dark blue in colour. Fabulous.

“Hah! Don’t worry, we’ll keep it a secret!” Undyne teased, reaching an arm over Alphys to punch her in the shoulder. She was never gonna hear the end of it now. Of course her mother was going to tease her about that. She was gonna have to have a chat with her later about it now, as much as she disliked that prospect.

“Mum sends her regards... What did you guys bring?” She asked, now trying to change the subject. Undyne huffed, clearly unimpressed.

“O-oh! We brought a lot of anime’s, a f-few of a-action films, um… D-Disney. W-We could do an interchanging marathon?” Alphys offered, still giggling. 

“Sounds good, just as long as the anime isn’t cringey. I’m not that into it, remember.” She stated, then quickly added, “and nothing romantic.” 

“Ugh, you’re weird. Who doesn’t love anime?” Undyne scoffed, stretching out a bit.

“Ap-p-parently her.” Alphys said as she passed a few options to Bailey, who selected the first three films to watch. Not bad choices to start the night off. “Y-you still have the snacks?”

“Yea, I’ll go get ‘em.” Bailey got up from where she sat, heading over the kitchen to the cupboards. It’d taken a big effort not to eat them when Undyne had dropped them off a few days back, but she managed to save all but one for the movie night. The soft drinks however were easy to ignore, as she didn’t really drink them that often. Bailey had always been picky with certain foods, and was still adjusting to the aspect of monster food. Surprisingly, it was different eating it as a monster as it was to a human, the food slowly disintegrating as she felt her body physically absorbing it, whereas a human, it was just like eating normally aside from the slight fizzle effect in the mouth. It was so very strange.

Actually, everything about being a monster was strange.

She recalled when she’d initially first started coming across now strange aspects of her life that didn’t seem to be an issue beforehand. Specifically hygiene, once again her underwear crisis from before, and no longer needing the toilet… well, actually she considered that one a bonus. It certainly didn’t bother her, it just felt weird no longer needing it simply out of habit of needing to for so long. The thought made her laugh. She also found herself frequently trying to keep her dog's hair out of her sockets whenever they played together.

The minor crises she had led to an awkward conversation between the skeleton brothers when she subconsciously found herself walking in and out of their bathroom while staying at their place. She ended up throwing away things like her hair brush, make-up, a full thing of roll-on deodorant… It felt really odd. She found herself asking stuff that she didn’t think she’d have to, but, thankfully, they were more than ok to answer her dilemmas. At one point she spotted Sans pulling a hair strand out from the brush just before she threw it out, as the strand hung loosely over the side. He gave her a really odd look as the strand kept coming out, the length getting longer as it turned from dark brown to blue, since it was dyed at the ends. She simply shrugged. He’d asked her how long her hair used to be, and she responded by showing him a photo of her old self, his sockets widening a bit. She wasn’t sure if she saw him blush a little as well, or if it was the lighting reflecting off of the countertop. She too found herself staring however, because oh, how she missed her hair. The feeling of playing with it idly or running her fingers through her scalp… She missed it so much.

And her hoops. She really missed wearing her massive earrings. 

As she retrieved the snacks, and a few bowls to put them in, she also couldn’t help but recall the time she’d first properly seen herself back at Undyne and Alphys house. Bailey had not been expecting what was before her, but she couldn’t help but stare at the figure staring back. From the shape of her skull, to the bones of her ribs. She especially couldn’t keep her gaze from the eyelight’s in her sockets, and the way her mouth was able to move as she found the teeth could in fact separate. She was surprised at how much control she had over the eyelights, and how they naturally responded to emotions. It made her jump when she made them disappear as she stared into dark, pitch black sockets. Ironically, they were really eye catching. Bailey was still getting used to that though.

Why she became a skeleton? She had no freakin' clue, but it was really freaky to say the least. 

Undyne smirked when she came closer, and she halted her movements. “Don’t give me that look. Whatever it is you’re thinking, stop.”

“Weeeeell,” she started, “I could see it working-”

“No.” Bailey quickly retorted, sitting back on the couch as aggressively as she could. “We hardly know each other as it is, and neither of them would see me that way.”

“You don’t know that!” She bellowed.

“Yes I do. And you watch too much anime to jump to that conclusion.” She retorted, opening a few of the packets of snacks. “Besides, I’m not interested in the whole ‘dating game’ anyway. Last experience of getting somewhere that close with someone didn’t end well for me.” She then tossed one of the movies, Pacific Rim, at Undyne. “Here. Throw this on ya’ weirdo.”

“Pfft! Says the mega dork.” She quickly snapped back, but got up to put the movie in regardless. 

“Oh? D-Did something happen, or?” Bailey then turned towards Alphys, who was reaching for the pringles. Thank goodness they had the good flavour, sour cream and onion. She shrugged, not really wanting to go into it, considering it was one of the reasons for her trauma.

“Eh, you could say that.” Alphys got the hint, and decided not to push. Koda made a whining sound, and, with a pat of her lap, jumped up onto the couch. Bailey patted him gently, turning her attention towards the TV.

As they watched the intro, Bailey aimlessly playing with the papillon's long ear fur, it wasn’t long until Undyne’s voice caught her attention again. “I didn’t hear a no.”

“What?” Bailey said, looking at her.

Undyne looked back, then smirked. “To the question. I didn’t hear a no.”

Bailey blinked. She scoffed. “You’re being ridiculous. And _no_ , I don’t.”

“Uh huh. Sure-” Bailey proceeded to smack Undyne across the head with a pillow, jumping up from where she sat. Undyne bursted into laughter again.

“I have other issues to attend to thanks!” She retorted, pouting as she curled into herself. “Guys are the last thing on my mind right now. Do you know how awkward it is to have someone's dog bury you in the park? Or how long I had a midlife crisis over my own underwear? Or the fact that I managed to get Koda’s ball stuck in my socket? You try having to sort that out!” 

“Nah, I’m already down an eye!” She exclaimed, pointing to said eye. 

“ _Eye_ can _see_ that.” Bailey said, suddenly smirking herself.

Undyne glared at her. “Don’t you start.”

“Start what?” She said, before a pillow was thrown at her. 

“We’re not going through a night with those bad puns! Sans does that already!” She exclaimed.

“Well, that might be inevitable in the fore- _see-_ able future.” Bailey ducked as the pillow was swung again, this time dashing over the couch armrest to put some space between her and the tall fish woman, laughing as she did so. “ _Watch_ it Undyne! Before you break something!”

“NGAHHH!” She bellowed, jumping over the couch. Bailey yelled, before suddenly dashing around the coffee table, Undyne missing her by a hair. Alphys was giggling to herself as she watched the small monster get chased around the living room, Koda barking as he couldn’t keep up.

“I’m sorry!” Bailey avoided another swipe of the pillow. “I concede!”

“Oh _sure_ you do!” Undyne leaped back over the couch, before cornering the small skeleton. She tried to make a dash, but the taller monster blocked the way, and Bailey threw herself backwards, tripping. Undyne took the chance and grabbed one of her legs, pulling her up so she was upside down, however Bailey found herself laughing. “I will toss you out the window myself if you keep going!” She said.

“Ok, ok! I’ll stop!” The two stared at each other for a few moments. Then with that, Undyne walked back over to the couch, tossing Bailey onto her side with a thud. “Rude,” she said. The fish lady poked her tongue out in response. 

“Y-You know. There wouldn’t b-be anything wrong with that.” Alphys piped in as Bailey adjusted in her seat to herself comfortable, only for a glare to be thrown at her.

“In your dreams.” She simply said, before attention returning to the TV. Apparently they missed a good chunk of the beginning. Whoops. “Uh, should we rewind?”

“Maybe, I didn’t catch anything from the start, and I’ve only watched it a couple times.” Undyne said. Bailey retrieved the remote and proceeded to back track. 

The trio sat in silence, and Bailey was starting to feel cheeky about halfway into the movie. She snagged a few more of the snacks, including a handful of that bad pre-made popcorn. 

She started chucking pieces at Undyne.

It didn’t last long. The fish woman retaliated by throwing the entire bowl of those lolly snakes on top of her head, one of them falling into her socket. The fish woman howled in laughter from the look she gave, her eyelights completely disappearing. The skeleton shuddered as she removed it, before throwing the lolly back at her. Alphys chuckled, then yelped as she ducked, leaping out of the way when more food got thrown. 

A minor food war then began. Bits of chips and lollies being thrown here and there whilst Koda helped himself to the snacks, much to Baileys dismay.

Undyne eventually threw herself at the skeleton, yelling out her signature war-cry as the other shrieked, trying to get out of the way. But, to no avail, she was too slow, and the taller monster crashed down on top of her, tackling her onto the floor with a thud. Undyne proceeded to sit on her then.

“You’re really annoying squirt.” She said, flashing her one of those big toothy grins.

“Yeha… ” She breathed, eyelights shrinking to pinpricks. “Undyne, you’re crushing me.”

“Nah. Time for you to face the consequences.” 

Bailey groaned. 

It was gonna be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. Dunno where this was going BUT, I hope it was ok!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've got a couple of head-cannons as to how things are portrayed, such as UT souls and whatnot, so please bare with me on these interpretations 
> 
> I have no idea what I'm doing anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> time for a little fluff

“ok.” He said, placing her hand to her chest. “try that again, but this time focus on that feeling when you reach out to it. that’s kinda what it feels like when you use your abilities. as emotionally driven as they _can_ be, it’s also mostly that inner part of you coming out in physical form. like i said earlier, they are extensions ourselves essentially.” 

Bailey gave him a weary look. They’d been doing this all day. The theory behind it was easy enough to understand, but actually trying to do so was a whole other thing. It almost felt wrong in some way as well. 

Perhaps it was just that worry of hurting someone again.

Bailey had insisted on waiting for another time to actually try bone attacks, more or less only wanting to get used to the feeling of her new magical abilities today. To feel more familiar with it, and to understand how it worked. So far, she’d managed to channel it a few times into her hand loosely, and only once revealed what monsters called ‘souls’, her sockets widening at the sight of a glowing heart appearing from her chest area. The heart itself seemed ethereal, giving off a light, weightless feel to it, and couldn’t physically be touched, but the magic surrounding it to ‘pull it out’ almost seemed heavy. It was upright, and dark blue in colour, but with white edges along the rim of the heart. It also glowed softly with the same hue of blue. Integrity they called it. The other skeleton briefly commented to Alphys on how it could be brighter as well.

The feeling was strange, and after getting a good look, released the pull she felt and watched as the soul disappeared, assuming back into her chest. She didn’t like how it felt to have it out in what she supposed was the open, especially with how vulnerable it felt, and would avoid doing so again if she could. But, as such, she needed to familiarise herself with these new abilities, and followed his instructions again, for the manieth time in a row. 

Gosh, he was so patient.

The other skeleton stared at her, smiling that lazy smile he had. Alphys had suggested getting his help on this considering he was rather good at this sort of thing, and he was working with her on similar, if not the same practise sessions with other human-turned-monsters. He wasn’t usually doing an awful lot on the weekends anyway, so the help was certainly appreciated whenever he came down to help at the lab. Bailey was a bit unsure at first, not wanting to be a bother to him, but after Alphys asked he assured her he didn’t mind when it came to friends. Bailey was honestly a little flattered by that.

That being said, part of her felt like it was because she and Papyrus were really good friends now. 

Sans watched as she closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling as she reached out to that inner part of herself, her soul, but not actually taking hold of it. He furrowed his boney brows slightly. “relax button. it’s not dire.” 

Bailey looked back up at him, then glanced over at Alphys who was just off to the side. “Y-your tensing up again.”

The smaller skeleton sighed, “sorry.”

“it’s fine. you’re doing a lot better than some of the other’s we’ve worked with so far. don’t be too harsh on yourself.” He placed a hand gently on her shoulder as she slumped forward a bit, her exhaustion evident. “maybe we’ll take another break al’.”

“O-of course.” She said, pushing the glasses up her snout, retrieving a couple of items on the kitchen counter. “I-I’m honestly surprised w-we haven’t stopped yet.”

“It’s called being stubborn.” Bailey glanced at her bluntly, before turning her gaze to her dog. The papillon laid on his bed, belly up and snoozing away loudly. It was quite amusing to say the least. Then she continued, “something I got from my mother. And thank God for that.”

“I can tell.” She said, grinning a bit uneasily. “Here,” she said as she hobbled over, a small bowl of noodles in hand with some water. “This might help a bit.”

“Thanks.” Bailey took them, even though she wasn’t all that hungry, and smiled as the other monster went back to the kitchen. She downed the water however before looking out of the window to her apartment. It was raining today, the recent weather being slightly stormy as of the last few days. She sighed, mumbling to Sans as she prodded the noodles. “You know, I’d kill for some vegemite toast right now. It’s been ages since I had any.”

Sans snickered a little. Bailey had decided she’d order some online, and was gonna relish the spread once it got here. She was also keen on seeing the reactions she would get out of them once it arrived. She was one of those people who could slap it on with the thickest of layers, and was going to dare Undyne to try it like that the first chance she got.

“heh. pity it’s not here yet. i’m eager to see if it’s really as good as you say it is.” There was a playful mock tone there, so she sent a glare his way.

“You don’t know till you’ve had it.” She retorted.

“you seem very sure about that. i hear a lot of people say it’s salty. like tar.” Sans raised a brow, clearly amused.

“Don’t knock it ‘till you try it.” Bailey rolled her eyelights, grumbling. Each to their own she guessed. She sighed again, looking down at the pitiful noodles. “Am I really doing ok?”

Sans expression softened, “yeah, you are. being a fast learner helps too.” He patted her shoulder gently before leaning back into the couch, putting his hands behind his head. “there’s a couple of the others we’re working with that just… really can’t seem to grasp it. one of them is refusing to try. i don’t blame them though, it is kinda terrifying in a way.”

“Hmmm…” Bailey hummed quietly to herself. If she was being honest, she’d rather not have to do it either, but she knew that would be a big downfall if she didn’t go through with it. Especially when there were people actively offering to help her. The earlier and quicker she could get a hold of this monster magic crap, the better.

It was just a question on how long it would take now.

“Are there any other common abilities for skeletons?” She asked, turning her head to look at Sans. He’d closed his sockets at some point, and cracked one open to look at her. “You know, aside from bones?”

He let out his own hum as he thought about it. “there are technically blue attacks, even though they’re in bone form for us. they aren’t strictly for skeletons though, it’s just more common to see it with us, and also dog monsters. there’s also blue magic, which is basically gravity manipulation. only skeletons can use that one.”

“Oh… Nothing individually unique?” She prompted.

Sans eyed her for a moment, contemplating something. Then he shrugged, “there can be. pap’s and i sorta have an extra attack, but only because of our dad.”

“Oh? What is it?” Bailey couldn’t help but ask, her interest peaking a bit.

“Giant floating dog cannons.” Alphys spoke up, gaining the skeletons attention with a very unimpressed look on her face. Sans sent her a glare.

“they’re not dogs al’.” Sans grimaced a little, the smile dropping almost entirely. Bailey’s sockets widened.

“It’s hard to f-forget those giant skulls Sans, e-especially when you _prank_ us with them.” Her own glare shot towards him, and he grinned sheepishly, looking away momentarily.

“dog’s don’t have horns.” 

“They follow c-commands.”

“they’re supposed to? they’re not even sentient.”

“Some weapon.” Alphys gave him the most dead-panned look Bailey had seen yet, and she stared at her as the yellow monster sat on the other side of the couch, beside Sans. “I-If you can make something as p-powerful and capable as those blasters, y-you might as well give it some personality. T-That’d be the c-coolest.”

“they wouldn’t be easy to control.” Sans frowned.

“Wait wait wait, hold on… Blasters? You mean like laser cannons? Do you actually have ‘weapons’?” Bailey's eyelights had shrunken a bit, trying to keep up with the other two monsters.

Sans and Alphys shared a look briefly. Then he looked away, scratching the back of his skull. “uhh, well… like i said, they’re sort of attacks now, but… originally, they were created as literal weapons. again though, they’re part of our abilities now, so it’s not an issue anymore.”

Bailey gave him her best deadpan look. “Ok. That’s cool. But… Why does someone as lazy as _you_ need literal blasters? I don’t see you as the fighting type.”

He shrugged, and she rolled her eyelights. It wasn’t like she couldn’t picture him in a fight, if anything that’d be bad-ass having giant, floating skull blasters, but he didn’t seem to be the type to want to in the first place. She let the topic drop however, he didn’t seem too keen on sharing anymore. He probably wasn’t intending to share that much to begin with.

It didn’t stop her curiosity however. She was very intrigued to know what they looked like now.

Did they actually look like horned dogs?  
  
Movement from the corner of her socket broke her thoughts, and she looked over to see Koda coming over to the trio. He gave her those puppy eyes, focused on the noodles she was still holding. She sighed, giving one to him. The pathetic noodle didn’t even last a second as he wolfed it down. What a gutsy.

Bailey leaned back herself now, leaning into the couch corner. She stared out of the window, before bringing a hand up to sit on the armrest. She subconsciously focused on it, tracing out the grooves she could see with her eyelights in and between the phalanges. It seemed to be a habit now. To be honest though, she couldn’t help but be fascinated by individual bones, the way they moved when she stretched them out or balled them into a fist. Connected together with a magical membrane of some sort in between the bones. She couldn’t get enough of it.

It was kind of tempting to draw, but she’d been seriously lacking motivation. Plus, it'd been a while since she last drew something. She doubted it would look good.

She blinked, and decided to give it one last go. If she could channel her magic once more then she’d be content for a while, and be able to practise in her own time. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and focused. She could feel the familiar sense of her soul pulsing in her chest like the last few times she attempted this. Slowly, she reached out to it, then focused on channelling the excess energy into her now open hand. She could feel the energy coursing through her, now somewhat familiar with it, and opened her eyes. 

Bailey froze, her sockets going wide. Except there was no panic this time, unlike the first couple times she tried. Before her, her hand emitted a soft glow, the beautiful deep blue of her soul. A smile twitched the corners of her mouth. Slowly, while keeping her focus, she turned her hand experimentally so that it was palm up, and watched as the wispy glow left the smallest of trails. It was pretty. Behind her, she could feel the eyes of the other monsters watching intently, focused on the light emitting from her hand. She wasn’t entirely sure if she should be doing something with it, but to do more wasn’t really today's goal either. As pretty as it was to look at as well, she could also feel the drain it took on her energy. It really did take an awful lot to maintain, and she was fairly exhausted already. 

Then her non-existent stomach started to churn. 

Quickly, she bit back the urge to spring from where she sat on the couch. Anything to do with magic so far had been a trigger for random puking, and this certainly was going to take an effect on it. She’d somehow managed to force herself the will to suppress it for a short period of time when needed, especially during outings. But, that also meant that when she did hurl she wouldn’t be able to handle it well, and tended to feel worse after trying to hold it down. Unfortunately, her sickness hadn’t gotten any better, and some were becoming worse, particularly aggressive if there was a much longer time frame from the last one. Typically, the ones that were a day or so apart were ok to handle, but anything longer than a week took a massive toll on her. At least they were spacing out now.

Yeah… on second thought, she wasn’t gonna hold it this time.

Bailey then felt the weight of the couch shift behind her, and glanced to see Sans had turned to face her. The skeleton looked at her, laid back as ever, and motioned to her hand. “heh, good job. you could probably summon a bone if-” 

He stopped, noticing her expression. Her face had paled a bit, but as he went to say something she cut him off, leaping to her feet and making a bee-line for the bathroom. Both his and Alphys gaze followed, first with wide eyes, then furrowed in concern as they shared a look between them.

Bailey practically threw the door open, and subconsciously slammed it closed before reaching the sink. Once again, her body shook violently as she hurled. This was starting to get painful. Alphys had now summed it up to her body just not adjusting very well to the magic composition of herself, but the sickness was the only apparent issue at hand. Everything else about her seemed fine. At this point though, she didn’t really care anymore. She just wanted it to stop. It was a mental note that reminded her she wasn’t the only one dealing with this problem either. Many other skeletons, and certain variants of monsters were facing this predicament. 

There were even reports of the weaker monsters falling, and one incident had even dusted them. 

The thought alone was terrifying. 

She needed to stay strong in order to get through this.

Her skull began to feel lightheaded, blinking slowly as her vision flickered for a moment. Bailey could feel the lights in her sockets fuzzing up. Gosh, she was exhausted. She hadn’t noticed that she’d leaned forward, her forehead resting now on the edge of the sink in front of the mirror. Bailey crossed her arms in front of her for more support, and used them to rest her head on instead of the hard sink edge to try prevent a headache from springing up. At some point, her knees bent as well, but she actively ignored them. If she fell to the floor she wouldn’t care, and relish in not having to stand. Sleep sounded awesome right now, despite it being mid afternoon. Besides, the floor wasn't that uncomfortable to her.

A hand then gently touched her shoulder, causing the skeleton to jump. She looked to see Sans standing there, boney brows furrowed. If she didn’t know any better, she'd say he was concerned. They stared at each other for a few moments, before Bailey broke the contact, closing her sockets and resting her forehead back on her arms. His eyelights pierced through her, and her cheeks flushed slightly both in embarrassment and from the sick feeling. She didn’t know what to say, but nor did he expect her to speak, so the two stayed silent.

After a few more moments, Bailey threw up a second time, only not as bad as the first. Sans rubbed her back soothingly, and she leaned against his touch when her figurative stomach was finished, her body shaking vigorously. He sighed, and frowned slightly. “don’t hold it in bailey. you’re gonna really hurt yourself at some point.”

Then a cool, soothing feeling washed over where his hand sat, and she glanced up to see a gentle green light in the mirror reflection. It was like the feeling of water droplets dripping from a melting icicle. A cool, pleasant sensation that wasn’t actually liquid, and soft on her soul when it came into contact. It trickled through her gently, temporarily relieving the pain she felt in her chest and non-existent throat. It was also somewhat refreshing, with a sense of comfort and care. It didn’t feel intrusive in the slightest, not barging or forceful in any way. She found herself seeking it.

So that’s what healing magic felt like.

Or, was that just his? There was a possibility that it was different depending on the individual monster's magic. 

It took her a few moments to realise he was channelling it directly into her soul, and he gave her a small smile. She sighed, relishing the feeling while it lasted, and began to notice her energy returning. Well, not by much, but a fragment was better than nothing. Sooner then she’d liked, the feeling dissipated, and was replaced by a couple more rubs along her back.

“better?” He asked, after a few quiet moments passed. All she could do was nod, Bailey couldn’t find her voice at the moment. Slowly, she pulled herself up to stand somewhat straight, slouching a little bit.

Sans patted her shoulder softly, and suddenly pulled her in for a hug. She didn’t protest, and was actually a little surprised by the action. It occurred to her Sans didn’t seem the touchy, cuddly type, usually keeping to his own space and away from those he wasn't too comfortable with. But, that being said, Sans was very good at reading people, and could tell if someone needed that quiet comfort, and was willing to offer his help if he felt it was needed. She sighed into his shoulder, letting her skull rest there. The sooner this sickness would stop, the better she would be. Bailey allowed the slightly taller skeleton comfort her silently, simply unable to do much else given how tired she was, before he led her to the bathroom door, an arm hooked around her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she said quietly, her gaze pointedly at the floor.

“don’t mention it.” Sans responded, just as quietly.

Bailey blinked. When had he come in? She didn’t hear the door open, even through her excessive hurling. Or, perhaps she really was out of it right now. She was usually more aware of her surroundings even when in the middle of a crisis, becoming hyper alert. Damn, she hated being tired. It was also then she noticed the unmistakable whine and scratching at the door as Koda demanded his entry. If Sans had come in through the door, Koda would’ve come in with him, albeit the first the one to enter if anything. The thought puzzled her, but she wasn’t quite ready to question that just yet.

Sans led her back into the lounge room, Koda jumping up at her feet as they both glanced up to see Alphys preparing something. It was some sort of drink. There were coffee sachets on the counter, but they hadn’t been opened yet. She hadn’t noticed them come into the room either.

“we’re giving you magic infused drinks. they’ll help you recover from the loss of magic.” He looked at her, answering her silent question. Apparently she didn’t notice the odd expression she wore. 

“Oh.” That was all she could respond with.

Right, that was a thing she needed to remember. Despite how often this happened, she’d seemingly forget that she needed to regain the magic she’d lost. Usually she went to sleep it off, considering how tired she could get afterwards, which meant she didn't have the energy, nor could be bothered for that matter, to make something to eat. Pre-made monster infused drinks seemed to be a go-to now. Besides, who doesn’t love coffee?

Sans guided her to the couch, and she flopped down with a sigh, laying across most of it. Koda immediately joined her, sitting along her shoulder and beside her head. A yawn stifled from her, those tired tears people got watering in her sockets for a brief moment. She threw an arm across her face to wipe them away, then looked up at Sans. He raised boney brow at her, “no room for me?”

“Nah,” she said, returning the look.

“aw, is that the thanks i get for helping you?” The brow raised slightly higher, but the corners of his mouth twitched into a cheeky smile.

“Yep.” Bailey said, closing her sockets.

“welp. guess i’m just gonna have to sit on you instead.” There was that cheeky tone.

Her eye sockets snapped open, “wait wha- OOF!”

Bailey barely had time to register the other skeleton before he sat on her. He might as well have jumped on her. While he wasn’t obnoxiously heavy, contrary to belief, Sans still had a decent weight to him. Koda sat up from the motion, temporarily startled by the action, before sitting back down. The larger skeleton leaned back, closing one socket and looking at her with the other. “this is a really comfy couch cushion.” 

“You asshole.” She glared at him, earning a snicker from him as her accent came through, although she could feel her own smile forming. “Get off me before I puke on you as well.”

Sans gave her a look, before stretching out excessively and faked a yawn. He turned himself so they were parallel with each other and flopped down on top of her, his back to her chest and rested his hands on his figurative stomach. Bailey groaned from the shifted weight on her, now scrambling to try get out from under him.

“Sans!” She whined, trying to push him off. He didn’t budge.

“nah, i like it here.” He said casually. “you’re comfy.”

“Ugh! Get off me doofus!” Bailey pushed on his shoulders, but felt him resist. She groaned, “have mercy, you reek of ketchup.”

“better ketchup to my level then.” The other skeleton chuckled, instead wiggling where he laid to emphasise his content, clearly not intending to move. She sighed, and let her arms drop in defeat. Oh well, if he’s going to use her as a cushion, she’ll use him as a blanket. A heavy blanket that would slowly suffocate her over time. 

Bailey closed her sockets, and shifted slightly into a comfier position, now ignoring the monster and his antics. She’ll push him off when he least expected it later. 

As they sat there, she noticed an odd warmth coming from him, the same one that Papyrus had every time he gave her a hug. It never ceased to amaze her how skeletons were capable of so many human-like things. Breathing alone didn’t come across her as necessary, but yet if her ribcage was obscured or constricted in any way to prevent the airflow between her ribs, she’d struggle to breathe. It was definitely noticeable whenever Undyne or Papyrus tackled or hugged her, and now as Sans laid on top of her, his weight being slightly constricting. On the other hand, she was grateful he’d shifted, as where he sat before was putting pressure on her still tender, non-existent stomach.

Bailey wrinkled her nose cavity slightly, the short skele man reeked of ketchup. It seemed that his clothes were washed frequently thanks to Papyrus, but man the smell stuck to him. No wonder Papyrus was so adamant towards greasy food, Sans was probably a constant reminder of the stuff. Oddly though, it wasn’t really a bad smell, it was just strong. Really strong for ketchup at least. 

Then there was another smell. Something more natural underneath the ketchup. Pine? Yeah, pine, like that of a pine tree or cone. And snow? Like, the way air smells before it starts snowing in a forest? There might’ve been something woody, or earthy, she couldn't quite tell, as well. Like old books, but that was very weak compared to the pine. 

Bailey raised her boney brow. Well, that’s an interesting combination to say the least. It seemed oddly fitting though. She certainly wasn’t deterred by it, if anything it was rather nice, compared to the strong scent of spices and sauce that Papyrus usually had, which she found was actually on the sweet side. He definitely had a separate, underlying sweet smell, but what the sweet smell was, she couldn’t quite pin it yet.

Shuffling in her peripheral vision broke her trail of thought, and looked at Alphys. The small monster had brought over 3 mugs of the instant coffee. At first, Bailey smiled, then glared as Alphys gave her a smirk. 

“Help me.” She said with a dead-panned expression.

“S-Sorry, you’re on y-your own.” She said flashing her a big smile, clearly intending to antagonise her. 

As if on cue, gentle snoring started to emit from the other skeleton. Bailey groaned, as sarcastically as she could manage, “aren’t ya just an awesome friend.” With that, she shifted again, and found a good grip on the others shoulders, and shoved as hard she could with a grunt. It seemed he really did get comfortable, because Sans let out a small yelp of surprise as he was thrown off balance. He landed with a thud on the floor, Alphys having to take a step back before erupting into giggles. 

Sans looked temporarily dazed, before flipping himself over and looking at Bailey. Bailey glared at him with a smug look, way too proud of the small victory. “Geez Sans, didn’t think you’d fall for me that quickly. Have a nice trip?”

He blinked, then grinned as the slightest of blushes crept onto his cheek bones “heh. nice enough you had to ground me.”

She snorted. “You literally floored it.”

“Oh my g-goodness, stop!” Alphys squeaked, burying face in her hands. It was a weak attempt to suppress her giggles. Bailey snorted again, shifting so that she sat upright, allowing the other two monsters to sit on the couch either side of her. She reached for one of the coffee cups, and hummed contently as she sipped the hot liquid, feeling the familiar fizz of magic that was infused. She immediately started to feel a bit better, and briefly checked her stats to see the levels rising slowly. 

Then, she reached for the remote, and flicked through the channels until she reached one of the cooking shows. Happy with the show selected, she leaned back and yawned, then turned to look at Alphys again, glaring as the other monster wiggled her brows up and down. 

Bailey rolled her eyelights, actively glaring at the show as she stared at the screen, whilst Sans watched the exchange with amusement.


End file.
